Keyword

Customer Commitment, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust, Loyalty programs, Repeat Purchase Behaviour

Abstract

Despite the substantial interest in loyalty programs amongst marketing scholars and professionals, few studies have been conducted amongst the youth within emerging markets. The purpose of the study was to examine the mediating influence of customer satisfaction, trust, and commitment on the relationship between loyalty programs and repeat purchase behaviour of a group of South African youth. The methodology involved a self-administrated questionnaire adapted from previous similar studies. Data were collected from 263 South African young people between the ages of 18 and 24 who were retail loyalty program members. The study tested six hypotheses using Structural Equation Modeling. The software used was SPSS 22 for descriptive statistics and IBM Amos 22. The findings indicate that all hypotheses were supported. They also suggest the significance of customer satisfaction as a strong mediator of loyalty programs and repeat purchase behaviour. Moreover, the study reveals that the mediating influence of customer commitment on loyalty programs and repeat purchase behaviour was the weakest influence. The findings revealed that, by building customer satisfaction and customer trust amongst the youth, the potential for marketers to positively impact on the success of loyalty programs and repeat purchase behaviour is high. This paper makes a valuable contribution to the literature on loyalty programs amongst youth within a developing market context.


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