Editing Switching barriers (section)

{{Short description|Economic & psychological costs of switching from one alternative to another}}
'''Switching barriers''' or '''switching costs''' are terms used in [[microeconomics]], [[strategic management]], and [[marketing]]. They may be defined as the disadvantages or expenses consumers feel they experience, along with the economic and psychological costs of switching from one alternative to another.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=Michael A|last2=Mothersbaugh|first2=David L|last3=Beatty|first3=Sharon E|date=2002-06-01|title=Why customers stay: measuring the underlying dimensions of services switching costs and managing their differential strategic outcomes|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296300001685|journal=Journal of Business Research|language=en|volume=55|issue=6|pages=441–450|doi=10.1016/S0148-2963(00)005|doi-broken-date=25 May 2025 |issn=0148-2963|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=Michael A.|last2=Reynolds|first2=Kristy E.|last3=Mothersbaugh|first3=David L.|last4=Beatty|first4=Sharon E.|date=2007-05-01|title=The Positive and Negative Effects of Switching Costs on Relational Outcomes|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670507299382|journal=Journal of Service Research|language=en|volume=9|issue=4|pages=335–355|doi=10.1177/1094670507299382|s2cid=167831200 |issn=1094-6705|url-access=subscription}}</ref> For example, when telephone service providers also offer Internet access as a package deal they are adding value to their service. A barrier to switching is then formed as swapping internet services providers is a time consuming effort.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ranaweera|first1=Chatura|last2=Prabhu|first2=Jaideep|date=2003-01-01|title=The influence of satisfaction, trust and switching barriers on customer retention in a continuous purchasing setting|url=https://doi.org/10.1108/0956431|journal=International Journal of Service Industry Management|volume=14|issue=4|pages=374–395|doi=10.1108/09564230310489231|issn=0956-4233|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

'''Switching cost''' or '''switching barriers''' are the expenses or cost that a consumer incurs due to the result of changing brand, suppliers, or products. Although most common switching cost is in monetary in nature, there are also psychological, effort based, and time based switching costs.

There are a range of different switching costs that fall under three main categories: procedural switching barriers, financial switching barriers, and relational switching barriers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Blut|first1=Markus|last2=Evanschitzky|first2=Heiner|last3=Backhaus|first3=Christof|last4=Rudd|first4=John|last5=Marck|first5=Michael|date=2016-01-01|title=Securing business-to-business relationships: The impact of switching costs|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.05.010|journal=Industrial Marketing Management|language=en|volume=52|pages=82–90|doi=10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.05.010|issn=0019-8501}}</ref> Procedural switching barriers refer to the time and resources associated with changing to a new provider; financial switching barriers refer to the loss of financially measurable resources; and relational switching barriers look at the emotional inconvenience from the breaking of bonds and loss of identity.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Burnham|first1=Thomas A.|last2=Frels|first2=Judy K.|last3=Mahajan|first3=Vijay|date=2001-04-01|title=Consumer Switching Costs: A Typology, Antecedents, and Consequences|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/007030297|journal=Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science|language=en|volume=31|issue=2|pages=109–126|doi=10.1177/0050897|doi-broken-date=25 May 2025 |s2cid=11626 |issn=002-0703|url-access=subscription}}</ref>