The Customer Tenure–Satisfaction Paradox in Poverty-Sensitive Cooperative Settings: Evidence from The Philippines

This study examines the relationship between multidimensional poverty and customer satisfaction among feed mill customers of a Philippine ‎cooperative, with years as a customer serving as a mediating variable. Responding to the need for integrated performance metrics in devel-‎development-oriented enterprises, the study combines customer satisfaction assessment with multidimensional poverty measurement across ‎health, education, livelihood, employment, and social inclusiveness. Data were collected from 3,265 customers, and mediation analysis was ‎employed to examine both direct and indirect relationships among poverty, customer tenure, and satisfaction.‎ The results show that multidimensional poverty has a significant negative effect on customer satisfaction, while also being positively associated with longer customer tenure. Notably, years as a customer were found to have a significant negative effect on satisfaction. This counter-‎intuitive pattern is conceptualized in this study as the tenure–satisfaction paradox, wherein economically disadvantaged customers remain ‎affiliated with the cooperative for extended periods despite reporting lower satisfaction. Mediation results confirm that customer tenure partially mediates the relationship between poverty and satisfaction, indicating that the influence of poverty on satisfaction is shaped by the ‎duration of customer engagement.‎ The findings highlight that customer retention and customer satisfaction are related but distinct outcomes in poverty-sensitive cooperative ‎settings. By introducing the tenure–satisfaction paradox, this study contributes to cooperative economics and customer satisfaction literature ‎and offers practical insights for cooperative managers and policymakers seeking to balance service quality, long-term engagement, and inclusive development‎.