Customer experience and customer loyalty : an assessment of retail multichannel banking in the Durban area

Abstract

Customer experience (CX) has received substantial attention in empirical research in the recent past. While there has been growing research interest in customer experience, few studies have examined its relationship with other concepts such as customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and service quality. This study investigates the relationship between customer experience and customer loyalty in retail banking with multiple channels of distribution. Further, the study seeks to advance research on the relationship between customer experience and customer loyalty by exploring the mediation roles of customer satisfaction and service quality in the retail banking industry in South Africa. The South African retail banking industry is increasingly competitive and regularly confronted with new entrants. Technological innovations, regulatory requirements, changing customer expectations, demographics and new non-traditional industry entrants are disrupting the banking industry. The services offered by retail banks are highly undifferentiated and hence there is a need for banks to look for other ways to compete than through differentiation of products. When one of the banks introduces a new service to the market, other banks typically follow suit quickly by imitating it. Subsequently, core services offered by all banks tend to be very similar in nature and form. In addition, customers are highly knowledgeable and selective, and they are increasingly raising their expectations in terms of the quality of services they receive from the banks. In view of this, banks therefore need to have a clear understanding of their customers’ needs and develop relevant offerings that can retain their customers. Relationship marketing is believed to be one of the ways in which banks can create long-term relationships with their customers, thereby gaining their loyalty. Specifically, focusing their efforts on creating advantageous customer experiences, essential to forming long-term loyal relationship with the customers. Thus, this study is aimed at determining the relationship between customer experience and customer loyalty. This is achieved by exploring the influence of selected constructs, namely service quality and customer satisfaction, in order to analyse the role of customer experience as a predictor of loyalty. To achieve the objectives of the study, a quantitative descriptive research approach that was cross-sectional in nature was adopted. A non-probability convenience sampling method was followed to select a sample of 500 bank customers across the Durban region in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A questionnaire was developed from validated measurement scales from previous studies and a literature review. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed physically and online to bank customers. A total of 466 responses was received from the data collection process. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 24.0 and Smart Partial Least Square (SmartPLS4) were used to analyse the data. Using data from the survey and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), a theoretical model was created and empirically tested. This model indicates that customer loyalty can be achieved by improving customer experiences, enhancing service quality and improving customer satisfaction. The results of descriptive statistics indicated an overall mean below 2.5. The presentation then progressed to the SEM analysis, which was done in two stages. The first stage examined the measurement model. As stated, the model in this study is a reflective hierarchical model. The CX construct is a reflective-reflective HOC, and its dimensions of feeling, behavioural, sensorial, cognitive and social are the LOCs; hence, a repeated indicator approach was used to assess the measurement model. The reliability of the reflective measurement model was assessed using indicator reliability, Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability (rho_c). The convergent validity of the constructs was examined using AVE, while the Fornell Larker technique and the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio were used to assess the discriminant validity of the constructs. Thus, using CFA, the validity by means of convergent and discriminant validity as well as the reliability of the model were established. After the measurement model was deemed fit, the structural model was examined by means of path coefficients, variance explained (R2 ) and predictive relevance (Q2 ). The R2 results for the structural model were above 0.65 for all variables, which is considered a substantially good fit, while the Q2 the values obtained were 0.616, 0.694 and 0.712 for customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and service quality respectively. The model was found to be satisfactory for both measurement and structural models, after which relationships among variables were tested for significance. All relationships were found to be positive and significant The results show the key role of customer experience and its impact on customer loyalty and that this relationship is mediated by customer satisfaction and service quality. These findings contribute towards improving the theoretical knowledge of the influence of customer experience on loyalty, and guide retail banks in developing and implementing appropriate customer experience strategies.