Service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value: holistic determinants of loyalty and word-of-mouth in services

A Study on Customer Behavior in Online Dating Platforms: Analyzing the Impact of Perceived Value on Enhancing Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty is critical for organizations to gain market share and maintain a sustained competitive advantage. However, no study has yet explored customer loyalty in online dating platforms. Perceived value theory suggests that perceived value is a key predictor of customer loyalty. Accordingly, this research constructed a conceptual model drawing on a multidimensional perspective of perceived value to explore customer loyalty in online dating platforms and investigated the mediating role of satisfaction. By quantitatively analyzing 352 customers who had experienced online dating platforms and utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships among propositions, the research demonstrated a strong positive correlation between perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty, and a notable indirect impact on loyalty through satisfaction. In addition, the experiential value dimension of perceived benefits had the most positive and substantial influence on perceived value, while the perceived risk dimension of perceived sacrifice had the most negative and notable impact on perceived value. The results of the study provide designers, managers, and vendors of online dating platforms with valuable insights into customer behavior and practical recommendations for improvement, helping them to develop more effective strategies to enhance market competitiveness and ensure the sustainability of their platforms.

Exploring customer retention dynamics: A comparative investigation of factors affecting customer retention in the banking sector using mediation-moderation approach

The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of service quality, customer trust, and cultural disparities on customer satisfaction within the banking sector. Additionally, the study examined the mediating effect of customer satisfaction and the moderating effect of financial technology. Data for this investigation were gathered from customers utilizing services offered by public banks in Pakistan and China. The analysis was conducted using the Smart-PLS software, with 281 samples from Pakistan and 312 samples from China being included in the study. Results show that service quality, customer trust, and cultural differences positively affect customer satisfaction in the context of Pakistan and China. Results also reveal that service quality and customer trust have a positive effect on customer retention behavior in China, but customer trust has an insignificant impact on customer retention behavior in Pakistan. Analysis specifies that customer satisfaction positively mediated the relationship between service quality, customer trust, cultural differences, and customer retention behavior in Pakistan and China. More importantly, financial technology moderated the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention behavior, but it was insignificant in the context of China and Pakistan. The study seeks to provide significant insights for strategic decision-making and improve customer relationship management techniques in the dynamic field of financial services by including mediating and moderating elements.

Do customers' perceptions of Islamic banking services predict satisfaction and word of mouth? Evidence from Islamic banks in Bangladesh

This study aims to investigate the customers' perceptions of Islamic banking services and their impact on satisfaction and word of mouth (WOM) with others. This study designs the bootstrapping procedures using a partial least square method to test path coefficient results. Structured questionnaires were distributed among clients of Islamic banks in Dhaka city, where 377 responses were collected for data analysis. The findings revealed that there is a highly significant relationship between security and customers' perception. Ethical responsibility and religious value have a positive and significant impact on customers' perception whereas benefit has a negative significant impact on customers' perception. Findings from this study also indicated that customers' perceptions mediate the effect of ethical responsibility, religious value, benefit, and security on satisfaction. In addition, customers' satisfaction mediates the effect of customers' perception and WOM. These findings can promote managers of Islamic banks to build customer satisfaction and WOM with Islamic banking services, and attain competitive advantage that may lead Islamic banks to succeed in the competitive business. This study also provides new insights into customers' WOM with others about Islamic banking services. This knowledge could assist Islamic banks to understand the customers' perceptions that would increase satisfaction and in turn, contribute to WOM with others in determining where would be best to target marketing attention of Islamic banking services with limited resources.

A comparison between E-TailQ and ES-Qual for measuring e-service quality in the retail industry: an emerging economy case

Purpose

There is a growing trend in online shopping in developing and underdeveloped economies. Measuring web retail service quality is vital to enhance and retain online customers for higher profits. As a result, it is essential to understand e-service quality and its relationship with other e-commerce-related variables identified as customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth (WOM), loyalty and repurchase intention. The main objective of this research is to validate the psychometric properties of E-TailQ and ES-Qual scales to measure e-service quality in the context of an emerging economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was administered by surveying online customers through a convenience sampling approach. The sample data consisted of 329 valid responses. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The results suggest that both the scales are valid, reliable and adequate and confirm the psychometric properties of E-TailQ and ES-Qual scales in an emerging economy context. There is a positive and significant relationship between latent variables (E-TailQ and ES-Qual) and customer outcome variables like satisfaction, loyalty, WOM and repurchase intention. Additionally, the coefficients of the E-TailQ scale have higher values than ES-Qual scales in all dimensions. The perceived quality proved to be a precedent of satisfaction to a lesser extent than other scales' constructs, and it proved to be a superior predictor of WOM for the E-TailQ scale and loyalty for the ES-Qual scale. Overall, when measured by the ES-Qual scale, perceived quality could explain much of the sample's satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intention compared to E-TailQ.

Research limitations/implications

One of the significant limitations of this study is related to the data collection, as individual responses were collected at one particular point in time. Thus, it is impossible to verify the development of perceived service quality outcomes over a specific time. Another possible limitation is the selection of only two widely used scales, although other options are available in the literature. Finally, developing a new scale to address future challenges might be another alternative.

Practical implications

The results obtained in the study will help managers assess customer satisfaction, the reputation of the business through WOM, and customer intentions for the repurchase that will lead to loyalty by emphasizing e-service quality. It will enable them to design strategies for improving business performance. The developed instrument will assist in identifying the gaps and describing how service quality can achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

Several studies in the literature have used E-TailQ and ES-Qual scales to measure e-service quality in developed countries. Only a few studies addressed the validity of these widely used competing scales in an emerging economy like Pakistan. This study addresses the literature gap by addressing the reliability and validity of these scales and assesses the impact of e-commerce-related variables. Besides, the study reveals insights into the literature by addressing multiple dimensions of e-service quality and summarizes a deep understanding of each scale item that affects the perceived quality in a developing economy like Pakistan.