Role of Customer Engagement in Customer Loyalty for Retail Service Brands: Customer Orientation of Salesperson as a Mediator
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2019/v49/i11/148273Keywords:
Customer Loyalty
, Customer Orientation of Sales Person, Customer Engagement.Paper Submission Date
, November 20, 2018, Paper Sent Back for Revision, August 9, 2019, Paper Acceptance Date, October 10, 2019.Abstract
This paper examined the role of customer engagement in customer loyalty for retail service brands. It further explored the role of Customer Orientation of Salesperson as a mediating variable between Customer Engagement and Customer Loyalty. A cross-sectional research on retail customers through questionnaire was conducted. The population of the study included retail urban customers of Pune and Bangalore cities in India. Responses were analyzed using factor analysis and PROCESS procedure for SPSS. The proposed model attempted to evidence the partial mediation effect of Customer Orientation of Salesperson between Engagement and Loyalty. The study established and confirmed the relationship between Engagement and Loyalty as in the literature. The effects of Engagement on Loyalty have been known, yet the function of Customer Orientation dimensions as mediators between Engagement and Loyalty intention is the original contribution of the study. This study was undertaken among an explicit group of retail customers. Thus, it confined generalization of outcomes to other population. This study elucidated the significance of customer engagement for accomplishing customer loyalty for the Indian retail sector. This awareness would enable retail outlets to equip themselves against the developing online markets. The brick and mortar shops, if they give more attention to the training of salespersons towards customer orientation and keep their customers engaged so that they are more positive towards the salesperson, would enhance the customer loyalty for their customers. Thus, the managerial efforts would contribute towards efficient improvement of the traditional retail industry against the online market.Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
References
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182.
Bowen, J. T., & Chen, S. L. (2001). The relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13(5), 213-217.
Brakus, J. J., Schmitt, B. H., & Zarantonello, L. (2009). Brand experience: What is it ? How is it measured ? Does it affect loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 73(3), 52-68.
Brodie, R. J., Hollebeek, L.D., Juriã, B., & Iliã, A. (2011). Customer engagement: Conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research. Journal of Service Research, 14(3), 252-271.
Brodie, R.J., Ilic, A., Juric, B., & Hollebeek, L. (2013). Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 105-114.
Brown, T. J., Mowen, J.C., Donavan, D. T., & Licata, J. W. (2002). The customer orientation of service workers : Personality trait effects on self-and supervisor performance ratings. Journal of Marketing Research, 39(1), 110-119.
Census (2011). Population census 2011. Retrieved from https://www.census2011.co.in/
Colwell, S., Hogarth-Scott, S., Jiang, D., & Joshi, A. (2009). Effects of organizational and serviceperson orientation on customer loyalty. Management Decision, 47(10), 1489-1513.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19(2), 109-134.
Gambetti, R.C., & Graffigna, G. (2010). The concept of engagement : A systematic analysis of the ongoing marketing debate. International Journal of Market Research, 52(6), 801-826.
Hapsari, R., Clemes, M. D., & Dean, D. (2017). The impact of service quality, customer engagement and selected marketing constructs on airline passenger loyalty. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 9(1), 21-40.
Harris, L.C., & Goode, M.M. (2004). The four levels of loyalty and the pivotal role of trust : A study of online service dynamics. Journal of Retailing, 80(2), 139-158.
Hayes, A. F., & Scharkow, M. (2013). The relative trustworthiness of inferential tests of the indirect effect in statistical mediation analysis : Does method really matter? Psychological Science, 24(10), 1918-1927.
Jaramillo, F., Ladik, D.M., Marshall, G. W., & Mulki, J.P. (2007). A meta-analysis of the relationship between sales orientation-customer orientation (SOCO) and salesperson job performance. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 22(5), 302-310.
Kaiser, H. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrics, 39(1), 31-36.
Khan, I., Rahman, Z., & Fatma, M. (2016). The role of customer brand engagement and brand experience in online banking. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 34(7), 1025-1041.
Khanna, P., & Seth, S. (2018). Consumer perception towards shopping malls: Evidence from a Tier II city. Indian Journal of Marketing, 48(4), 47-59. https:dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2018/v48/i4/122625
Knight, D.K., Kim, H.J., & Crutsinger, C. (2007). Examining the effects of role stress on customer orientation and job performance of retail salespeople. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 35(5), 381-392.
Kumar, A., Gupta, S. L., & Kishor, N. (2016). The antecedents of customer loyalty: Attitudinal and behavioral perspectives based on Oliver's loyalty model. Indian Journal of Marketing, 46(3), 31-53. doi:10.17010/ijom/2016/v46/i3/88996
Kumar, V., Aksoy, L., Donkers, B., Venkatesan, R., Wiesel, T., & Tillmanns, S. (2010). Undervalued or overvalued customers : Capturing total customer engagement value. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 297-310.
Kurup, A. J., & Jain, P. (2018). Effect of e-loyalty cues on repurchase behavioural intentions among online shoppers.
Indian Journal of Marketing, 48(11), 7-22. https:dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2018/v48/i11/137982
Lenka, U., Suar, D., & Mohapatra, P.K. (2009). Service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in Indian commercial banks. The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 18(1), 47-64.
Lu, Y., & Seock, Y. K. (2008). The influence of grey consumers' service quality perception on satisfaction and store loyalty behavior. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 36(11), 901-918.
Martenson, R. (2007). Corporate brand image, satisfaction and store loyalty: A study of the store as a brand, store brands and manufacturer brands. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 35(7), 544-555.
Meyer, C., & Schwager, A. (2007). Understanding customer experience. Harvard Business Review, 85(2), 116-126.
Mittal, V., & Kamakura, W.A. (2001). Satisfaction, repurchase intent, and repurchase behavior : Investigating the moderating effect of customer characteristics. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(1), 131-142.
O'Brien, I.M., Jarvis, W., & Soutar, G.N. (2015). Integrating social issues and customer engagement to drive loyalty in a service organisation. Journal of Services Marketing, 29(6/7), 547-559.
Oliver, R.L., Rust, R.T., & Varki, S. (1997). Customer delight : Foundations, findings, and managerial insight. Journal of Retailing, 73(3), 311-336.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879-891.
Ramaswamy, V. (2009). Leading the transformation to co-creation of value. Strategy & Leadership, 37(2), 32-37.
Rego, L.L., Billett, M.T., & Morgan, N.A. (2009). Consumer-based brand equity and firm risk. Journal of Marketing, 73(6), 47-60.
Saxe, R., & Weitz, B. A. (1982). The SOCO scale : A measure of the customer orientation of salespeople. Journal of Marketing Research, 19(3), 343-351.
Schultz, R. J., & Good, D. J. (2000). Impact of the consideration of future sales consequences and customer-oriented selling on long-term buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 15(4), 200-215.
Seiders, K., Voss, G. B., Grewal, D., & Godfrey, A.L. (2005). Do satisfied customers buy more ? Examining moderating influences in a retailing context. Journal of Marketing, 69(4), 26-43.
Shetty, B., Bhandary, R., Chandra, S. R., & Shetty, A. D. (2018). Antecedents to customer loyalty in the restaurant industry : A millennial perspective. Indian Journal of Marketing, 48(7), 23-35. https:dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2018/v48/i7/129720
Singh, R., & Koshy, A. (2012). A new conceptualization of salesperson's customer orientation: Propositions and implications. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 30(1), 69-82.
Singh, R., & Venugopal, P. (2015). The impact of salesperson customer orientation on sales performance via mediating mechanism. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(5), 594-607.
Sivadas, E., & Baker-Prewitt, J.L. (2000). An examination of the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and store loyalty. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 28(2), 73-82.
Solem, B. A. A., & Pedersen, P. E. (2016). The role of customer brand engagement in social media: Conceptualisation, measurement, antecedents and outcomes. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 10(4), 223-254.
Thakor, M. V., & Joshi, A. W. (2005). Motivating salesperson customer orientation : Insights from the job characteristics model. Journal of Business Research, 58(5), 584-592.
Thomas, R. W., Soutar, G. N., & Ryan, M. M. (2001). The selling orientation-customer orientation (S.O.C.O.) scale: A proposed short form. The Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 21(1), 63-69.
Van Doorn, J., Lemon, K. N., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P., & Verhoef, P.C. (2010). Customer engagement behavior : Theoretical foundations and research directions. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 253-266.
Vargo, S. L. (2009). Toward a transcending conceptualization of relationship : A service-dominant logic perspective. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 24(5/6), 373-379.
Verhoef, P.C., Lemon, K. N., Parasuraman, A., Roggeveen, A., Tsiros, M., & Schlesinger, L.A. (2009). Customer experience creation : Determinants, dynamics and management strategies. Journal of Retailing, 85(1), 31-41.
Vivek, S. D., Beatty, S.E., Dalela, V., & Morgan, R.M. (2014). A generalized multidimensional scale for measuring customer engagement. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 22(4), 40-420.
Wirtz, J., Den Ambtman, A., Bloemer, J., Horv?th, C., Ramaseshan, B., van de Klundert, J., Canli, Z. G., & Kandampully, J. (2013). Managing brands and customer engagement in online brand communities.
Journal of Service Management, 24(3), 223-244.
Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W.B. (2009). Work engagement and financial returns: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(1), 183-200.
Yu, T.-W., & Tseng, L.-M. (2016). The role of salespeople in developing life insurance customer loyalty.
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 44(1), 22-37.
