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NTU Management Review Vol. 33 No. 3 Dec. 2023

quality, social value, perceived value, etc. Using these factors, their study aims to figure
out the degree of customer satisfaction. The results show that the above four factors have
obvious impacts on customer satisfaction. Based on the finding of Deng et al. (2010), this
study employs dissatisfaction as a variable to explore whether it can influence switching

intentions for health apps. Dissatisfaction is the reverse sentiment of satisfaction; therefore,
we substitute the instrument of dissatisfaction for that of satisfaction.

2.4 Switching Costs
Dick and Basu (1994) and de Ruyter, Wetzels, and Bloemer (1998) suggest that the
switching cost is the cost of alternating from one service provider to another. In addition to
the financial cost, consumers still have to face the time spent or psychological uncertainty
brought by changing to a new provider. In the field of marketing, Jones, Mothersbaugh,

and Beatty (2000) point out that switching costs are consumers’ perceived costs in
switching vendors, such as finance and time. This cost would not be incurred if the user
retains the original supplier. When the switching cost is high, the customer is forced to

continue trading with the existing supplier; that is, the willingness to switch decreases.
When considering switching suppliers, customers assess whether the cost of the switch is
greater than the cost of staying at the existing supplier. In addition, Burnham, Frels, and
Mahajan (2003) explore the types of switching costs, divided switching costs into three
following categories:

(1) Procedural switching costs mainly refer to the customer’s time and effort;
(2) Financial switching costs mainly refer to the loss of customer-measured financial
resources;

(3) Relational switching costs mainly refer to the emotional or psychological loss of
the customer.
This study focuses on switching of health apps. When users are going to switch their
current app, they must face new procedural settings, learning, uncertainty and take risk
when using a new alternative. Therefore, we mainly use the procedural switching cost as

a variable to further explore switching costs. Since health apps are similar in function and
are nearly free to download and use, the financial switching costs and relational switching
costs are not considered in this study.

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