Net Effects Versus Configurations: A Multi-Method Configurational Analysis of Service Marketing Mix Drivers of Customer Satisfaction at OYDC Zambia Sports Development Centre

This study examines whether customer satisfaction in a sport-service context is better explained by symmetric neteffects modeling or asymmetric configurational modeling. Specifically, it investigates how the 7Ps service marketing mix jointly and independently relate to satisfaction at OYDC Zambia Sports Development Centre. Using survey data from 201 customers, the study employs hierarchical OLS regression with HC3 robust standard errors alongside fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The symmetric model estimates additive net effects, while fsQCA identifies sufficient configurations and tests equifinality and causal asymmetry. Robustness checks include alternative calibration thresholds and stricter consistency cut-offs. OLS indicates that the 7Ps collectively increase explanatory power but no single element exerts a significant independent effect in the full model. In contrast, fsQCA reveals multiple sufficient configurations producing high satisfaction, demonstrating equifinality, substitution effects and causal asymmetry. No single P is necessary for satisfaction. The study reconceptualises the 7Ps as interdependent configurational systems rather than independent levers and contributes to the symmetric–asymmetric modeling debate in service marketing, particularly within an emerging economy context.