The service quality–loyalty relationship in retail services: does commitment matter?

The marketing literature has produced two schools of thought on the cause of customer loyalty in services industries. The service quality perspective puts forward that service quality evaluations substantially drive customer loyalty in services industries. The relationship marketing perspective puts forward that customer commitment to the service provider substantially drives customer loyalty in services industries. In addition, commitment is a complex construct with at least two forms, one based in liking and identification (affective commitment) and one based in dependence and switching costs (continuance commitment). These positions were examined in an integrated model of retail–service relationships. It was found that affective commitment and continuance commitment were mainly partial mediators of the service quality–loyalty relationship. It was also found that affective commitment to the retailer had a positive impact on customer loyalty while continuance commitment in marketing relationship had a deleterious effect on customer loyalty.     

Relationship intention and relationship quality as predictors of clothing retail customers’ loyalty

Retailers endeavour to establish and maintain strong relationships with customers in order to build customer loyalty. Unfortunately, such endeavours are not always successful as not all retail customers reciprocate retailers’ relationship efforts. Customers’ intentions to engage in relationships with retailers (i.e. relationship intentions) should thus be the starting point in building customer loyalty. Moreover, customers’ perceptions of the strength of their relationship with a retailer (i.e. relationship quality) should also be considered when building customer loyalty. The purpose of this study is to determine whether clothing retail customers’ relationship intentions and relationship quality, individually and in combination, predict their loyalty to clothing retailers. Data were collected from 511 respondents in South Africa’s greater Tshwane metropolitan area. From a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it was found that clothing retail customers’ relationship intentions and relationship quality are individually, and in combination, predictors of their loyalty to the retailer. Results furthermore indicate that relationship quality mediates the relationship between relationship intention and customer loyalty. The findings highlight the importance of first determining customers’ relationship intentions, and then reinforcing positive perceptions of relationship quality when building customer loyalty.     

Consumer satisfaction and loyalty: Two main consequences of retailer personality

This article investigates the impact of retailer personality on consumers' satisfaction with and loyalty to the retailer, measured through attitude and future behavioral intentions. Data were collected on a convenience sample of 372 customers of a specific retailer. Using partial least squares analysis (PLS), we show that four traits (“congeniality”, “originality”, “conscientiousness” and “preciousness”) have a direct or indirect impact on one of the dependent variables studied. Hence, this article proposes a model of the consequences of retailer personality and suggests that retailer personality is an important concept that practitioners should consider when running their satisfaction and loyalty programs.     

A study of the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility and price image on retailer personality and consumers' reactions (satisfaction,trust and loyalty to the retailer)

This study investigates the impact of a retailer's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy and its price image on retailer personality, along with the impact of these two variables on the consequences of retailer personality: consumers' satisfaction, trust and loyalty toward the retailer (measured by their attitude and future behavioral intentions). Data were collected on a convenience sample of 352 consumers of a French grocery retailer. Using Partial Least Squares analysis (PLS), we show that perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and price image have a significant positive/negative influence on retailer personality traits (“agreeableness” and “conscientiousness”/“disingenuousness”) and that Corporate Social Responsibility has also a significant positive influence on the “sophistication” personality trait. For the consequences examined (satisfaction, trust and loyalty to the retailer), we show that Corporate Social Responsibility, price image and retailer personality have a direct or indirect impact on these dependent variables.     

Designing loyalty programs that matter to customers

This study explores a model proposing a customer loyalty program as an identity marketing tool that evokes customer's identity salience (one's perception that a loyalty program membership is important to his/her identity). The results of a Web-based experiment indicate that identity salience is heightened by (1) the uniqueness and exclusiveness of a loyalty program (distinctiveness), and (2) by the fit between the function of the program's rewards and the customer's identity goal (identity congruence). The heightened identity salience, in turn, positively influences the customer's attitude toward the retailer, satisfaction with the loyalty program and the perceived quality of his/her relationship with the retailer.     

零售商品牌资产管理策略体系构建——基于多维理论视角的探讨

零售商品牌资产的管理和创建是零售企业获取持续竞争优势的关键,但关于零售商品牌资产管理策略的理论指导并不系统和丰富。因此,本文从零售商品牌营销管理、顾客情绪管理、顾客体验管理、顾客关系管理、顾客忠诚管理5个多维理论视角,对零售商品牌资产管理的策略体系进行了构建,以期为零售商品牌资产的创建过程和途径提供丰富的管理视野与思路。     

Retailers and their relationships with their financial services suppliers: the case of debit card charges in the United Kingdom

The mid 1990s has seen a very rapid growth in both the holding and use of debit cards in the UK. There are now just over 27 million debit cards issued in the UK under the marques Switch and Visa Delta. Debit card transactions immediately debit the account of the card holder. These transactions are acquired by a financial institution (the acquirer), who reimburses the retailer of the purchase sum minus a negotiated fee, the merchant service charge (MSC). In the UK the MSC is a fixed fee per transaction as opposed to credit card transactions that are levied as a percentage of the transaction value. The level of the fixed fee payments vary enormously from just a few pence for large corporate clients to anything up to 80 p for some small independent retailers. The authors of this paper were commissioned to undertake a research programme into retailer attitudes to card payment systems. This paper will outline the main implication of the research in terms of marketing the acquiring service to retailers and consequent relationship between acquirer and retailer. Relationship marketing can be seen as a return to a more traditional method of bank management, in terms of close relationships between banks and businesses. With the development of specialist sections and departments such as card services there may have been a more transactional marketing approach by the banks. Merchant acquirers should focus more attention on retention rather than recruitment and treat each customer as an individual. Factors other than price and technology, for example quality and customer service, should be emphasized to protect themselves from competition and to encourage long term customer loyalty.     

An integrative approach to relationship marketing,customer value,and customer outcomes in the retail banking industry: a customer-based perspective from Turkey

Given how important it is to provide superior value to customers and to maintain customer loyalty for a sustainable competitive advantage, the aim of this paper is to examine the relationships among relationship marketing components of – trust, competency, commitment, communication, and conflict handling, – relationship investment, relationship quality, perceived customer value, satisfaction and loyalty in an integrated framework in the Turkish retail banking industry. Unlike previous studies, this research extends the literature by analysing affective as well as cognitive dimensions in the same model with a holistic view by simultaneously examining the direct and indirect effects of the related concepts. The distinctive nature of this study is its evaluation of customer satisfaction and loyalty from the perspective of actual consumers. The research model was tested using data collected from 685 retail banking customers by applying structural equation modelling. The findings show that relationship marketing induces loyalty through relationship quality, customer value, and satisfaction, which are mainly provided by trust, communication, and relationship investment. Furthermore, relationship investment and relationship quality are the most important factors in the development of customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty. The emotional value dimension, which captures the affective aspects of perceived value, has the strongest effect on both satisfaction and loyalty.     

Social perspectives of e-contact center for loyalty building

Recently, e-contact centers have gained popularity among online companies as a preferred channel to communicate with their customers. E-contact centers are respected among e-retailers and online customers because they provide customers value within a social construct. This research suggests that an e-contact center serves as an effective marketing vehicle, which can be used for establishing and maintaining desired relationships with customers. E-contact centers enhance the relationship between e-retailers and online customers by providing social values and quality interpersonal service to customers. Despite the strategic importance of e-contact centers in relation to customer loyalty, little attention has been given to the topic. To remedy this, the primary objective of this study is to assess the impacts of social elements (i.e. perceived social value and interpersonal service quality) delivered by e-contact centers on customers' loyalty formation processes. Loyalty formation process is parsimoniously explained by an integrative model, which incorporates interpersonal service quality, social value, retailer satisfaction, and e-contact center satisfaction constructs.     

Investments in consumer relationships: a critical reassessment and model extension

This study is a critical reassessment and extension of De Wulf et al.'s (2001) framework investigating retail investments in consumer relationships. Their initial model relates four types of relationship marketing efforts to perceived relationship investment, in turn influencing relationship quality and ultimately behavioural loyalty. Based upon signalling theory, we extend this model by introducing product and service efforts as additional antecedents. Moreover, in contrast to the use of self-reported measures in the initial model, we apply customer database information in order to measure the construct of behavioural loyalty. Based upon 187 consumers reporting on their relationship with a Belgian apparel retailer, the SEM results provide guidelines for retailers how to increase the quality of their relationships with consumers by strengthening consumers' perceptions of relationship investment.     

Linkages of retailer personality,perceived quality and purchase intention with retailer loyalty: A study of Indian non-food retailing

The present study was an effort to explore the direct and indirect (through retailer perceived quality and purchase intention) impacts of retailer personality on store loyalty. Questionnaire was used to collect data using systematic sampling from non-food retail store shoppers of age 18 years and above in Kolkata, a metropolitan city of India. Multivariate data analysis techniques like structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. Results supported both the direct and indirect impacts of retailer personality on retailer equity. Interestingly, the extent of indirect impact of retailer personality on retailer loyalty is greater than direct impact. Arguably, this paper is the first to explore the linkages among retailer personality, perceived quality, purchase intention and store loyalty. Academic and managerial implications are further discussed.     

汽车服务业服务质量、顾客满意度与顾客忠诚度的实证分析

为了探讨汽车服务行业服务质量、顾客满意度与顾客认知、情感、意向、行为等四类忠诚度之间的关系,我们对广东省7家汽车4S店进行实证调查,结果发现:服务质量对顾客的认知、情感和意向忠诚度有直接的影响;顾客满意度对顾客四类忠诚度都有直接的影响,且顾客满意度对态度忠诚的影响大于其对行为忠诚的影响;在顾客四类忠诚度中,对顾客行为忠诚有直接影响的是认知忠诚和意向忠诚,其中意向忠诚的影响程度较大。     

Customer retailer loyalty in the context of multiple channel strategies

With an increasingly competitive retail environment and decreasing customer switching costs, customer retailer loyalty is a critical goal for merchants of all types. We investigate customer retailer loyalty in the context of multiple channel retailing strategies. Results show that multiple channel retail strategies enhance the portfolio of service outputs provided to the customer, thus enhancing customer satisfaction and ultimately customer retailer loyalty. These results suggest that multiple channel retailing can be a useful strategy for building customer retailer loyalty.     

Quality of channel integration and customer loyalty in omnichannel retailing: The mediating role of customer engagement and relationship program receptiveness

The aim of this study was to understand how omnichannel integration quality affects customer loyalty through customer engagement and relationship program receptiveness and to verify the relationship between customer engagement and relationship program receptiveness in omnichannel retailing. Data was collected through a questionnaire with 378 available respondents. PLS-SEM was exerted to examine the model. The results disclosed the positive influence of omnichannel integration quality on customer engagement and relationship program receptiveness, which consequently impacted customer loyalty. Also, the positive influence of customer engagement on relationship program receptiveness was proved. Further, the role as mediators of customer engagement and relationship program receptiveness was explored. This study contributed to the omnichannel literature by confirming that psychological and behavioral customer engagement plays a vital role in omnichannel retailing. This study also helped omnichannel retailers understand that providing a seamless, consistent and reassuring environment can facilitate customer engagement and thereby gain customer loyalty.     

Does online relationship marketing enhance customer retention and cross-buying?

One characteristic of online consumer behavior is the low cost of searching for alternatives. Therefore, customer loyalty is more difficult to achieve in the online context than in the offline one. Although studies have discussed the effectiveness of relationship marketing, nearly all studies examining such constructs have been in the context of ‘offline’ consumer behavior. With regard to the ‘online’ context, the integration of Internet technology with the customer loyalty concept is rarely discussed in the relationship marketing literature. Furthermore, empirical research that integrates the actual purchase behavior of customer retention and cross-buying is relatively sparse. In response to this, the current study develops and empirically tests a model that examines the relations among relationship-bonding tactics, perceived relationship investment, perceived relationship quality, customer loyalty, customer retention, and cross-buying. Using survey data from 766 online customers of a securities corporation, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of relationship marketing as it positively influences online customers' perception, then their loyalty, and ultimately, their actual purchase behavior.     

我国通信业客户忠诚驱动因素研究

客户忠诚指客户行为的持续性,它对确立企业的核心竞争力具有重要影响。文章认为,客户忠诚是内外部环境因素共同作用的结果。而通讯服务质量、信任、转网成本、员工忠诚是影响通讯业客户忠诚的重要因素。其中,良好的通讯服务质量是维系客户忠诚的保障;信任是客户再购买行为产生的前提;转网成本对通讯业客户忠诚有着不可忽视的影响;员工忠诚有助于客户忠诚的建立。我国通讯运营商要建立客户忠诚,必须以客户导向的营销理念作为企业经营管理的主导思想;加强技术创新,为客户提供全方位的优质服务;与客户之间建立相互信任的合作关系,为长远合作奠定基础;提高转网成本和员工忠诚度,为建立客户忠诚打下坚实的内部基础。     

Building customer loyalty in retailing: not all levers are created equal

This research examines the determinants in building and maintaining customer loyalty in grocery retailing. The first part introduces a distinction between traditional, ‘mass’ levers such as range and price, and relational, ‘targeted’ levers based on individual customer information. The second part focuses on the role ofthese two sets of levers for differentiation, that is, to what extent they are perceived by customers as distinctive to a retailer. For the first time, parallel analysis of retailers and consumers is used to obtain a dual perspective on loyalty drivers. Most supermarket chains in Italy today are found to invest marketing resources in the ‘mass’ levers of range and price. They are also starting to use other levers for differentiation, although effectiveness of their attempts varies a great deal and the perception of diversity by customers varies a lot from one banner to another. We also find that relational levers cannot be separated from traditional levers to sustain loyalty, but they clearly play a secondary role. Investment in targeted marketing is no substitute for that in traditional mass loyalty tools such as range and price.     

Exploring the influence of three types of grocery retailer loyalty programs on customer affective loyalty

Loyalty programs have become a key tool in retailer marketing strategies. In order to manage client heterogeneity adequately, companies have implemented different types of programs: reward programs (RP), loyalty cards (LC) and VIP programs. This paper explores the effects of these three types of programs and provides a comparative analysis of the influence that these three types of programs have on the affective loyalty towards the retailer of customers participating in them. Results show that VIP programs are the most effective in achieving customer affective loyalty, whilst people taking part in reward programs and loyalty card schemes evidence no differences in their affective loyalty towards the store. It can thus be concluded that clients who are loyalty card holders do not value the intangible rewards (preferential treatment) they receive from the store.     

Cross-selling across stores or within a store? Impacts of cross-buying behavior in online shopping malls

Abstract

This study investigates the impacts of cross-buying behavior in an online shopping mall where customers can purchase from additional product categories from various independent stores. We focus on the extent to which store loyalty and relationship duration moderate the cross-buying effects on three behavioral traits: customers’ purchase rate, lifetime duration, and spending. The results reveal that customers who engage in cross-buying more intensely purchase more frequently, have longer expected lifetime duration, and spend higher amounts in each transaction. The impacts on purchase frequency and customer retention are even greater for customers who exhibit higher behavioral loyalty toward some stores. However, store loyalty is found to weaken the association between cross-buying and average spending. Further, relationship duration appears to weaken the effects of cross-buying on purchase rate and spending. These results provide new insights into the impacts of cross-buying on customer value as well as managerial implications for shopping mall owners.     

The role of customer gratitude in making relationship marketing investments successful

This paper recognises that customer loyalty is important for many competitive organisations, and that retail firms make investments to build and maintain loyal relationships with their existing and potential customers (e.g. loyalty programs). However, there has been little focus on the mechanisms by which these relationship investments operate to achieve customer loyalty. This paper examines one mechanism, namely customer gratitude, which works to make a firm’s relationship marketing investment a success or a failure. Using data from 1600 undergraduate students, this study empirically confirms the mediating role of customer gratitude between the customers’ perceptions a firm’s relationship marketing investments and customers’ perceptions of the value of the relationship with the firm. Further, a significant moderating effect of perceived benevolence on the relationship between customers’ perceptions a firm’s relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude was identified. For theorists, this customer gratitude model offers a better psychological explanation of how relationship marketing investments operate to improve the value that customers place on their relationships with retailers. Our research suggests that managers should invest resources to stimulate customer gratitude in order to build strong customer–seller relationships.