A formação da percepção de valor para pequenos e médios consumidores B2B de serviços logísticos e suas consequências na intenção de recompra

Abstract

The perception of positive value that consumers make in their relationships with suppliers has been considered as a source of competitive advantage for companies. Theoretical and empirical evidence shows that the perceived value can establish relationships that are complex and of high abstraction with several other dimensions, among which are quality, satisfaction and the intention to repurchase. It can also be influenced by both rational and non-rational dimensions, such as experience and affection. In the latter, the present day boundaries of deeper investigation of the issue are found when one treats of the relations between organizational actors, commonly identified as the B2B market. The scenario of the B2B relationship between suppliers and demanders of logistics transportation services, especially SMEs - Small and Medium Enterprises - presented itself conducive to the research of perceived value, and sought to answer the question: how to shape the perception value of SMEs and what are their consequences in the buying behavior of logistic transportation services? Thus, by means of a survey, a scale is proposed with 31 items to measure the quality constructs, sacrifice, experience, perceived value, satisfaction and intention to repurchase. The data were collected from 195 businesspeople in the region of the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba, an important national logistics hub. By means of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis techniques, and Structural Equation Modeling with PLS, a final model is proposed with 5 dimensions and 20 variables observed. The perceived value was formed by quality and experience, being an antecedent of satisfaction. This, in turn, presents itself as the best predictor of repurchase intention. Among the findings, it is emphasized that sacrifices acted in a non-significant manner in the relationship between SMEs and logistics service providers. The SMEs appreciated to a greater extent aspects relating to quality of service (ƿ=0,23) and the lived experience of the service provision (ƿ=0,34). In addition, the construct exchange costs were excluded from the model, which did not show significant relationships in the 95% level of confidence. This exclusion suggests that the maintenance force of the relationship and the consequent repetition of the purchase is not in the difficulty that an SME encounters when dissociating itself from the current relationship and exchanging logistics partner, but in the possibilities for gain that this segment obtains when establishing relationships based on quality and experience. The study indicates that SMEs, when electing experience and quality as builders of perceived value (R2 Adj=0,26) and because they are strongly influenced by satisfaction (R2 Adj=0,20) to form their repurchase intentions (R2 Adj=0,59), manage their supply chain establishing personal relationships and being wrapped in more subjectivity than is reasonably expected of a business man.