Mediating roles of commitment and corporate image in the formation of customer loyalty

Abstract

Purpose Identifying the loyalty drivers to cell phone operators is extremely important in today's competitive environment. Consensus is absent in the marketing literature on how loyalty should be conceptualized and measured in the service industry. The purpose of this study is to test an integrative model to examine the relations among customer satisfaction, trust, commitment, corporate image, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. It also aims to examine the mediating roles of commitment and corporate image on causal relationships between trust and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach Data collection was done in two stages: in the first stage in which the primary purpose of analysis was pre‐testing, the authors collected data from 250 respondents. In the second stage, data were obtained from 855 mobile phone users in India via questionnaire. The data were analysed by structural equation modelling (SEM) in order to test all the relationships between variables in the model. Findings The findings supported the proposed hypotheses, which are consistent with the theoretical framework. Analysis showed that corporate image is an important determinant of attitudinal loyalty. Research limitations/implications In order to generalize the findings, the proposed model should be studied in different service industries. This research does not examine the interaction effects between customer satisfaction and trust. Future researchers can test these interaction effects and study its impact on development of behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. The proposed model should be tested using a longitudinal research design. Practical implications Firms should focus both on attitudinal and behavioural loyalty to create truly loyal customers. A defensive marketing strategy is important for the highly competitive and maturing mobile telecommunications service market. Mobile phone companies should develop and reinforce marketing strategies focusing on factors (satisfaction, commitment, trust and corporate image) which have the greatest influence on retention. Originality/value This paper examines the mediating roles of commitment and corporate image in the formation of customer loyalty.

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