In extending Meyer and Allen’s (1997; Meyer and Herscovitch 2001) three-component model to a consumer setting, commitment can be conceptualized as a force that binds an individual to continue to purchase services (i.e., to not switch) from a service provider. The underlying basis of this force may be affective (binding the consumer to the service provider out of desire), normative (binding the consumer to the service provider out of perceived obli- gation), or continuance (binding the consumer to the ser- vice provider out of need) in nature.