on the other hand, evaluating the defensive impact of service quality through customer retention promises to help companies gauge the financial impact of service quality. The relationship between retention and profits recently has been estimated by a variety of researchers (e.g., Anderson and sullivan 1990; Fornell and Wernerfelt 1987, 1988; Reichheld and sasser 1990) and companies (e.g., IBM). If the relationship between service quality and retention can be similarly documented, the financial implications for a given company or even a given service initiative can be calibrated. Zahorik and Rust (1992) distinguish among five tasks that must be completed to model the impact of service on profits; (1) identifying the key service attributes to include in the model, (2) selecting the most important attributes, (3) modeling the link between programs and attitudes, (4) modeling behavioral response to service programs, and (5) modeling the impact of service programs on profits.