Purpose - The aim of this article is to explain how customer commitment, measured as affective, continuance, and normative commitment, relates to the complexity of a service.

Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from a questionnaire distributed to practicing dentists in Sweden, which capitulated a sample of 128 respondents. Nine hypotheses were tested in T-tests, Pearson’s correlation test and regression analyses.

Findings – Results show that customer commitment is significant related to the complexity of a service. Affective commitment is found to be strongest in a complex service while continuance commitment is stronger in a simple service.

Research limitations/implications – The research show how customer commitment differs between a complex and a simple service which can be used by managers and marketers when they design marketing activities. The results can also be used as a basis for market segmentation according to commitment dimensions. 

Originality/value – The value of this research resides in the findings that there is support for that the complexity of the service is affecting the degree and dimension of commitment. To the author’s knowledge little research has focused on the complexity of a service and its effects on customer commitment.