Predicting behavioral loyalty through corporate social responsibility: The mediating role of involvement and commitment

This study examines whether consumers' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities can predict behavioral loyalty, and how two attitudinal constructs drawing from the means-end chain model—involvement and commitment—mediate this relationship. A field study of 634 customers of an Australian professional football team was conducted by combining attitudinal surveys with actual behavioral data collected one year later. The results revealed a positive mediating effect of involvement on the relationship between perceived CSR and behavioral loyalty. However, when the effect of involvement on behavioral loyalty was mediated by commitment, the indirect effect of perceived CSR turned negative. The findings of this study indicate that the contribution of CSR initiatives to behavioral loyalty is not as robust as past research suggests, and is also contingent upon specific psychological states activated by consumers' perceptions of such initiatives.     

Rethinking value co-creation and loyalty in virtual travel communities: How and when they develop

For marketers of virtual travel communities (VTCs), a vital issue is to understand how to maintain consumer stickiness and loyalty. Although existing studies have tried to explore this issue, researchers have not given detailed and specific answers from the value co-creation theoretic lens. Therefore, the present paper aims to bridge this research gap by investigating the relationship among consumer trust in VTCs, consumer co-creation behaviors and their loyalty. The moderating impact of community service quality (CSQ) on loyalty is also explored. Data from a two-wave survey were collected from 214 active users in a Chinese VTC (Mafengwo) and then analyzed using the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique with STATA 13. Results indicated that (1) consumer trust positively impacts on two dimensions of value co-creation behavior, namely, breadth participation and depth participation. (2) Depth participation is more conducive to cultivating both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, while breadth participation has an inverted U-shaped influence on behavioral loyalty. (3) CSQ positively moderates the relationship between depth participation and attitudinal loyalty. But after controlling for the effect of attitudinal loyalty on behavioral loyalty, this study found that CSQ negatively moderates the relationship between depth participation and behavioral loyalty. This paper developed a comprehensive framework involving antecedent and consequence of consumer co-creation behavior and showed the importance of CSQ as a key boundary condition, enriching the existing VTC and consumer loyalty research from the perspective of value co-creation and trust theory. Corresponding practical implications and limitations are also discussed.     

Determinants of attitudinal loyalty in Nigerian telecom service sector: Does commitment play a mediating role?

This paper explores the mediating role of commitment in the relationships between service assurance, service reliability and attitudinal loyalty. A quantitative cross-sectional data generated from 138 experienced users of telecommunication services formed the final database. Attitudinal loyalty was found to be a process-based construct that starts from service assurance and proceeds to service reliability and finally to customer commitment and loyalty. The entire process explained 69 per cent of the total variance in attitudinal loyalty. The relationship between service assurance and attitudinal loyalty was insignificant. No support was found for the proposed mediating role of customer commitment in the relationship between service assurance and attitudinal loyalty. In contrast, the relationship between service assurance and attitudinal loyalty was fully mediated by service reliability. Finally, service reliability was both directly and indirectly related to attitudinal loyalty through customer commitment. To attract customers' attitudinal loyalty therefore, services companies especially those within the low-contact service category must deliver reliable services and make efforts to assure customers that their services are reliable. The implications for customer loyalty theory and future research are also discussed.     

Involvement, satisfaction, and brand loyalty in a small business services setting

Considerable resources are expended annually on building business brands, yet the literature is virtually silent on brand loyalty in a business setting. This study examines the relationship between attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty in a business services context, and attempts to identify two key antecedents of loyalty in this context. In particular, little is known about small businesses as customers, despite their significant contribution to the economies of developed nations. A longitudinal design is implemented, and data are captured on both attitudinal loyalty and subsequent loyalty behaviors (i.e., actual purchase behavior). The findings demonstrate the value of conceptualizing and measuring both attitudinal and behavioral components of brand loyalty. Specifically, the results indicate that attitudinal loyalty mediates the effects of the antecedents studied (category involvement and purchase satisfaction) on behavioral loyalty. Implications for marketing theory and practitioners are discussed, and possible directions for future research are sketched.     

Influences of the perceived value on actual repurchasing behavior: Empirical exploration in a retailing context

Recent academic studies have reexamined the link between satisfaction and loyalty by introducing actual loyalty behavior. Results of these rare studies are still inconclusive and point out the weakness of the link between satisfaction and behavioral loyalty. This work extends these previous studies by investigating the links between perceived value, satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty and behavorial loyalty. It highlights that perceived value is a better predictor of attitudinal loyalty and behavorial loyalty (number of visits and total sales) than satisfaction. Individual moderating influences are also discussed.     

Consumer Mindfulness and Marketing Implications

The aim of this study was to examine the role of mindfulness in consumer behavior and service marketing in Australia and Malaysia. Two studies were conducted; first to identify and characterize consumers on the basis of mindfulness, and to obtain data on the dimensions of relationship quality and consumer loyalty from the groups. Results from a standard analysis of data confirmed five of the six hypotheses tested. There are significant differences in the three dimensions of relationship quality (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment), and in two of three dimensions of consumer loyalty (namely, attitudinal and behavioral loyalty) between the two consumer groups—high and low mindful consumers. There is no significant difference in consumer switching restraint between the groups. These findings lead to research and managerial implications that conclude the paper.     

Does attitudinal loyalty influence behavioral loyalty? A theoretical and empirical study

Despite a plethora of studies on brand loyalty spanning over last three decades, the research paradigm is unique in its inability to produce generalizable results. The research suffers from a lack of agreement over the operationalization of the construct of the brand loyalty. Many researchers [e.g., Kahn, B.E., Kalwani, M.U., Morrison, D.G., 1986. Measuring variety seeking and reinforcement behaviors using panel data. Journal of Marketing Research 23, 89–100; Ehrenberg, A.S.C., Goodhardt, G.J., Barwise, P.B., 1990. Double jeopardy revisited. Journal of Marketing 54, 82–91] have defined brand loyalty only from a behavioral perspective. They assumed that repeat purchasing can capture the loyalty of a consumer towards the brand of interest. Other researchers [e.g., Day, G.S., 1969. A two-dimensional concept of brand loyalty. Journal of Advertising Research 9, 29–35; Dick, A.S., Basu, K., 1994. Consumer loyalty: towards an integrated conceptual approach. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 22 (2), 99–113; Baldinger, A.L., Rubinson, J., 1996. Brand loyalty: the link between attitude and behavior. Journal of Advertising Research 36 (6), 22–34; Rundle-Thiele, S.R., Bennett, R., 2001. A brand for all seasons: A discussion of loyalty approaches and their applicability for different markets. Journal of Product and Brand Management 10 (1), 25–37; Rundle-Thiele, S.R., 2005. Elaborating customer loyalty: exploring loyalty to wine retailers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 12 (5), 333–344], however, have suggested that attitude should be included along with behavior to define loyalty. In particular, Dick and Basu (1994) were precise in suggesting that a favorable attitude and repeat purchase were required to define loyalty. By viewing loyalty as an attitude–behavior relationship in their framework, Dick and Basu (1994) were able to investigate the concept from a causal perspective thereby permitting the identification of the factors that influence loyalty.Our research extends the idea proposed by Dick and Basu (1994) in two ways. First, we provide a conceptually clear, and an operationally meaningful way of segmenting the market on the basis of attitudes that govern this behavior. To be specific, we offer a unique way to measure attitudinal loyalty. And we use a unique survey data with a large sample of 1800 respondents that includes both behavioral (purchase) patterns and attitudes of the respondents for all major brands of toothpaste, to demonstrate that behavioral loyalty is influenced by attitudinal loyalty across many brands of the toothpaste category. Finally, we propose that a third behavioral pattern—non-user—should be also included along with two known behavioral patterns viz. single user and multiple user. This is because a non-user has the potential to become a consumer in future.     

Corporate social responsibility: Findings from the Chinese hospitality industry

The study investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral responses, factors closely related to a firm's social and economic performance, using data from 451 customers of three hotels. We also test the universality of such impact across various consumer groups. Results show that CSR positively affects perceived corporate reputation and customer satisfaction, which in turn, significantly affect customer commitment and behavioral responses (i.e., loyalty intentions and word-of-mouth). Perhaps more importantly, the role of CSR is not universal across consumer groups. Particularly, consumer income seems to moderate the relationship between CSR and perceived reputation. Specifically, the positive effect of CSR on perceived corporate reputation is more salient among people with a higher income. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Analysis of the moderating role of the gender variable in service recovery processes

In this study, the authors focus on service recovery processes and identify a set of key factors that drive satisfaction with the recovery process, which ultimately leads to customer loyalty. In addition, the authors investigate the role of gender as a potential moderating variable in the recovery process. Using a sample of 202 customers who had experienced a problem with their provider, filed a complaint and received a response from the company, the authors empirically test the proposed framework in the mobile phone market. The findings reveal that men tend to be more demanding when dealing with service providers and less loyal, while women tend to exhibit a more fully-developed sense of justice and greater attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. These results provide valuable insights for the consumer services industry: Companies can use gender information to manage complaints in order to restore customer satisfaction and increase customer loyalty more efficiently.     

Building consumer loyalty through e-shopping experiences: The mediating role of emotions

In the retail sector, it has become necessary for retailers to differentiate themselves using new strategies, such as managing shopping experiences. The retailer can benefit from applying these experiences in order to gain loyal customers. The purpose of this research is to advance in the analysis of the different dimensions of the e-shopping experience, identified from a literature review, and attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. In addition, this study highlights the importance of emotional experience, analyzing the mediating effect of emotional experience on the relationship between online experiences and consumers’ loyalty. The empirical research is based on a sample of 496 consumers. The results reveal that using different experiences could influence loyalty in two different ways: directly affecting attitudinal loyalty (especially when website trustworthiness is low and consumers experience more uncertainty) and indirectly affecting behavioral loyalty through emotional experience.     

Creating Ultimate Customer Loyalty Through Loyalty Conviction and Customer-Company Identification

Why do customers’ attitudinal loyalty fail to predict their behavior? More importantly, what creates such latent loyalty? We attempt to answer these questions by examining the antecedents and outcomes of loyalty conviction, which represents the inherent strength/uncertainty in a customer’s attitudinal loyalty. For deep attitudinal loyalty (i.e., conative loyalty), the findings suggest that customer satisfaction creates loyalty held without conviction. In contrast, customer-company identification creates loyalty held with conviction. Importantly, attitudinal loyalty without conviction loses its ability to predict behavior when situational and competitive barriers are present whereas loyalty with conviction maintains a predictive relationship with behavior despite the same barriers.     

Personal characteristics as moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty—an empirical analysis

Previous empirical research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty has largely neglected the issue of moderator variables. In a consumer‐durables context the authors analyze the moderating effect of selected personal characteristics on the satisfaction–loyalty link. The empirical findings, which are based on multiple‐group causal analysis, show that the strength of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty is strongly influenced by characteristics of the customer. Specifically, variety seeking, age, and income are found to be important moderators of the satisfaction–loyalty relationship. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effects of confidence and social benefits on consumers’ extra-role and in-role behaviors: A social identity and social exchange perspective

This study explores the effects of relational benefits on consumers' extra-role (civic virtue) and in-role (consumer loyalty) behaviors from social identity and social exchange perspectives, in addition to the mediating role of consumer–company identification (CCI) and perceived value. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 254 consumers. The findings reveal that relational benefits promote consumers’ extra-role and in-role behaviors. Specifically, confidence and social benefits, directly and indirectly, affect civic virtue and consumer loyalty. Supporting our integrative framework, the results demonstrate that CCI mediates the effect of confidence and social benefits on civic virtue and consumer loyalty, whereas perceived value only mediates the relationship between confidence and social benefits and consumer loyalty. This study presents important implications for academicians and practitioners.     

Relationship Quality as Predictor of B2B Customer Loyalty in the Pharmaceutical Sector: Evidence from Jordan

This article aims to investigate the impactful effect of relationship quality dimensions (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment) on aspects of loyalty represented by attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. A quantitative survey method was employed to achieve the objectives of the study. Furthermore, a convenience sampling technique was adopted to select a representative sample from physicians working in the public healthcare sector in Jordan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 408 questionnaires were used in the statistical analyses. The data were analyzed by applying structural equation modeling to test the study model, and hypotheses were constructed and tested quantitatively and discussed qualitatively. The results revealed that both aspects of customer loyalty (i.e., behavioral and attitudinal) were affected positively by the overall dimensions of relationship quality (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment), providing a recommendation for pharmaceutical companies in Jordan to focus on improving the relationship quality between their medical representatives and physicians due to the importance of such a factor in improving customer loyalty, which will reflect positively in managing their customers effectively and enhancing future business opportunities.     

Relationship marketing in A B2C context: The moderating role of personality traits

More and more, retailers are investing in relationship building as a strategy for enhancing customer retention in the business-to-customer (B2C) context. However, some marketing scholars have expressed concern over the usefulness of relationship marketing under certain conditions. As such, this study investigates the moderating role of personality traits on the relationship between satisfaction-driven relationship quality and behavioral loyalty. Based on a sample of 158 retail shoppers, we find that customers’ overall satisfaction with the retailer leads to quality customer–firm relationships and ultimately, behavioral loyalty to the retailer. We also found that the impact of relationship quality on behavioral loyalty depends on the consumer's personality traits, i.e., consumer innovativeness, variety seeking, and relationship proneness. These findings extend the extant relationship literature by showing that the value of relationship marketing is not universal, thereby refining our understanding of the relationship between customer behavior and relationship marketing. Implications for academics and managers are discussed.     

Revisiting the Satisfaction–Loyalty Relationship: Empirical Generalizations and Directions for Future Research

This extensive literature review highlights the state of the art regarding the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty, both attitudinal and behavioral. In particular, it brings to light several issues that should be carefully considered in analyzing the efficacy of customer satisfaction in explaining and predicting customer loyalty. In fact, for many years companies all around the world have heavily invested in customer satisfaction in the hope of increasing loyalty, and hence, consequently, profitability. But after having gone through a detailed analysis, it is clear that this link it is not as strong as it is believed to be and customer satisfaction is not enough to explain loyalty. In fact, the major findings of this review are captured in the form of a few empirical generalizations. We generalize that, while there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty, the variance explained by just satisfaction is rather small. Models that encompass other relevant variables as moderators, mediators, antecedent variables, or all three are better predictors of loyalty than just customer satisfaction. Further, the satisfaction–loyalty relationship has the potential to change over time. Similar weaker findings are uncovered and the study offers specific guidelines on who, when, and how much to satisfy. Finally, suggestions for future research to explore this domain are offered.     

How special rewards in loyalty programs enrich consumer–brand relationships: The role of self-expansion

Although brands offer different kinds of rewards through their loyalty programs, little is known about how they can impact consumer–brand relationships and brand attitude. How do loyalty program rewards influence the consumer–brand relationship? And which kinds of rewards establish or maintain closer relationships between consumers and brands than others? To answer these questions, the present research makes use of self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986) and two experiments that manipulate the extraordinary character of rewards offered to consumers. Our findings show that special rewards produce higher self-expansion than mundane rewards. Moreover, the positive effect of the rewards’ extraordinary character on brand evaluation, recommendation, and identification is sequentially and fully mediated by self-brand inclusion and self-expansion. Finally, we show that consumer satisfaction moderates the impact of special and mundane rewards on self-brand inclusion.     

What are the Building Blocks of Customer Brand Loyalty in Department Stores? A Multi-Level Mediation Analysis

Building customer brand loyalty through branding strategies to sustain competitiveness in the retail industry has gathered momentum among researchers. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of brand personality and consumer brand identification on customer brand loyalty via the mediating variables of perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, brand commitment, and word-of-mouth communication among Malaysian department stores' customers. Using a self-structured questionnaire, 381 usable responses are considered for data analysis by applying a covariance-based structural equation modeling approach. The results of exploratory factor analysis show that sincerity, followed by sophistication and competence, are the most significant dimensions used to predict brand personality in department stores. The outcomes also reveal that brand personality indirectly influences customer brand loyalty via consumer brand identification. Furthermore, perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, word-of-mouth communication, and brand commitment mediate the effects of consumer brand identification on brand loyalty. Finally, the proposed competing model implies that the indirect impact of brand personality and consumer brand identification is inevitable in building department stores' brand loyalty.     

The role of customer loyalty as a brand extension purchase predictor

The paper explores the relationship between customer loyalty to the retail brand and the purchase of non-traditional products and services (NTPS) offered by grocery retailers with their private label (i.e. over-the-counter products, photo printing, mobile communication services and travel booking). Customer loyalty to the retail brand is measured through its behavioral and attitudinal components. A survey was conducted administering a questionnaire to 480 retail customers in two stores belonging to different retail grocers. A binary logistic regression was then applied using the buying of at least one NTPS as the dependent variable (1 = buy; 0 = no buy) and behavioral loyalty and attitudinal loyalty as independent variables. Results show that attitudinal loyalty plays a significant role as buying predictor, but this depends on the NTPS offered. Theoretical and managerial implications are derived.