Exploring and validating social identification and social exchange-based drivers of hospitality customer loyalty

By R. Rather, Linda D. Hollebeek. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2019

203 citations recorded by the source corpus.

PurposeDespite growing academic interest in social identification (e.g. customer brand identification) and social exchange (e.g. commitment/loyalty), little remains known regarding the theoretical interface of these concepts in hospitality sector. Building on this research gap, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a model that explores the effects of brand identification, satisfaction, commitment and trust on customer loyalty toward four and five-star hotels. The authors also explore the mediating role of commitment, satisfaction and trust in the association of brand identification and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate the objectives of this study, the authors deployed a convenience sample of 345 consumers from four- and five-star hotels in the emerging markets context. Data analysis consisted of confirmatory factor analysis as well as structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate that customer brand identification, trust, commitment and satisfaction exert a positive impact on loyalty. Brand identification also exerts a favorable impact on customer trust, commitment and satisfaction. Specifically, satisfaction was found to exert the largest effect on commitment, trust and loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings may have limited applicability in contexts other than four- and five-star hotels in the emerging market context. Theoretically, this study adds insight into the dynamics characterizing focal social identification and social exchange-based theoretical relationships as observed in the hospitality sector.Originality/valueThe authors adopt an under-explored hybrid social identity/social exchange theoretical perspective to identify the nature and strength of associations among a set of relational, social identity/exchange-based constructs and discuss their key implications for academicians and hospitality managers.

Subfields: Marketing, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2d2a7c62f0942f76b5595cd0c3cd3d9eeb8f1b8b

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Citations in the corpus

Examining an integrated model of green image, perceived quality, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty in upscale hotels (2020, background): “Previous hospitality and tourism studies indicate that both satisfaction and trust are strong determinants of hotel guests ’ loyalty and behavioral intention (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001; Rather & Hollebeek, 2019; Wang et al., 2018; Wilkins et al., 2009).”
Positive and negative word of mouth (WOM) are not necessarily opposites: A reappraisal using the dual factor theory (2020, methodology): “The data analysis was conducted using SPSS 26 and AMOS 26 using a two-stage approach of covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), a popular data analysis method used by recent consumer behavior studies (e.g., Rather, 2019; Rather and Camilleri, 2019).”
“Donate to help combat COVID-19!” How typeface affects the effectiveness of CSR marketing? (2020, background): “) can facilitate a feeling of trust (Rompay and Pruyn, 2011), which is a prerequisite for building customers’ brand loyalty (Martínez and Del Bosque, 2013; Rather and Hollebeek, 2019).”
The effects of service quality and consumer-brand value congruity on hospitality brand loyalty (2019, background): “In a similar vein, the hotel guests continuously assess these factors as they will probably evaluate their service encounters (Rather & Hollebeek, 2019; So, King, Hudson, & Meng, 2017; So et al., 2013).”