Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach

This study investigates how insurance general agents' relationship-building behaviors influence customer trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention. Grounded in relationship marketing and social exchange theories, five key behaviors—approach, inducement, common grounding, networking, and commun...

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Main Authors: Joon-Ho Moon, Soon-Tae Lee, Yong-Ki Lee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825004755
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author Joon-Ho Moon
Soon-Tae Lee
Yong-Ki Lee
author_facet Joon-Ho Moon
Soon-Tae Lee
Yong-Ki Lee
author_sort Joon-Ho Moon
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates how insurance general agents' relationship-building behaviors influence customer trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention. Grounded in relationship marketing and social exchange theories, five key behaviors—approach, inducement, common grounding, networking, and communication—were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Data was collected from 253 insurance customers. The findings revealed that approach, common grounding, and communication significantly enhance trust. Only communication positively affects satisfaction. Furthermore, trust exerts a positive influence on both satisfaction and renewal intention, while satisfaction also emerges as a strong driver of renewal decisions. Mediation analyses indicate that trust partially mediates the relationship between communication and satisfaction, underscoring the importance of consistent and transparent information exchange in building customer trust. Moreover, satisfaction partially mediates the link between trust and renewal intention, reinforcing the pivotal role of emotional attachment for long-term contract retention. The NCA results show communication, trust, and satisfaction to be “necessary” factors, implying that without reaching certain thresholds in these variables, customers are unlikely to renew insurance contracts. These findings highlight the essential nature of proactive, empathetic, and clear communication strategies in fostering enduring customer loyalty. From a managerial perspective, insurers should prioritize clear, timely, and empathetic communication and foster trust-based engagement to optimize service delivery.
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spelling doaj-art-11a6b801769b40baa2556c8ec99b71642025-08-20T03:31:15ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-08-0125810516210.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105162Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approachJoon-Ho Moon0Soon-Tae Lee1Yong-Ki Lee2Graduate School of Business, Sejong University, 209, Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of KoreaGraduate School of Business, Sejong University, 209, Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of KoreaSchool of Business, and Carbon Neutral ESG Institute, Sejong University, 209, Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author.This study investigates how insurance general agents' relationship-building behaviors influence customer trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention. Grounded in relationship marketing and social exchange theories, five key behaviors—approach, inducement, common grounding, networking, and communication—were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Data was collected from 253 insurance customers. The findings revealed that approach, common grounding, and communication significantly enhance trust. Only communication positively affects satisfaction. Furthermore, trust exerts a positive influence on both satisfaction and renewal intention, while satisfaction also emerges as a strong driver of renewal decisions. Mediation analyses indicate that trust partially mediates the relationship between communication and satisfaction, underscoring the importance of consistent and transparent information exchange in building customer trust. Moreover, satisfaction partially mediates the link between trust and renewal intention, reinforcing the pivotal role of emotional attachment for long-term contract retention. The NCA results show communication, trust, and satisfaction to be “necessary” factors, implying that without reaching certain thresholds in these variables, customers are unlikely to renew insurance contracts. These findings highlight the essential nature of proactive, empathetic, and clear communication strategies in fostering enduring customer loyalty. From a managerial perspective, insurers should prioritize clear, timely, and empathetic communication and foster trust-based engagement to optimize service delivery.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825004755Relationship-building behaviorsTrustSatisfactionRenewal intentionPLS-SEMNCA
spellingShingle Joon-Ho Moon
Soon-Tae Lee
Yong-Ki Lee
Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach
Acta Psychologica
Relationship-building behaviors
Trust
Satisfaction
Renewal intention
PLS-SEM
NCA
title Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach
title_full Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach
title_fullStr Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach
title_short Impacts of general agents' customer relationship-building behaviors on trust, satisfaction, and renewal intention: A PLS-SEM and NCA approach
title_sort impacts of general agents customer relationship building behaviors on trust satisfaction and renewal intention a pls sem and nca approach
topic Relationship-building behaviors
Trust
Satisfaction
Renewal intention
PLS-SEM
NCA
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825004755
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AT soontaelee impactsofgeneralagentscustomerrelationshipbuildingbehaviorsontrustsatisfactionandrenewalintentionaplssemandncaapproach
AT yongkilee impactsofgeneralagentscustomerrelationshipbuildingbehaviorsontrustsatisfactionandrenewalintentionaplssemandncaapproach