Revisiting the satisfaction–loyalty link in retail banking – An emerging market perspective

Orientation: Revisiting the satisfaction–loyalty link is critical to better understand the driving factors of satisfaction and loyalty. This is especially true considering the increasing competitive nature of South Africa’s banking industry. Research purpose: The study revisits the satisfaction–loyalty link and the mediating effect of affective and calculative commitment on the satisfaction–loyalty link. Motivation for the study: Numerous scholars have explored and proposed different pathways to enhance the satisfaction–loyalty link in multiple contexts and industries. To date, there is, however, no clear pathway in a business-to-consumer (B2C) context and further research is required on how to strengthen this link. Research approach/design and method: A quantitative descripto-explanatory study that is cross-sectional in nature was used to collect empirical data from 871 banking customers in South Africa purposively selected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. SmartPLS 3.2.7 was used to test the direct effect (H1–H4) and Hayes Process Macro for SPSS (Model 4) was used to test the indirect effects (H5 and H6). Main findings: Satisfaction has a significant and positive relationship with affective and calculative commitment, and calculative commitment in turn has a significant and positive relationship with loyalty. Both affective and calculative commitments partially mediate the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. Practical/managerial implications: The importance of affective commitment in the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty among customers of South African retail banks is highlighted. Contribution/value-add: This study provides an enhanced understanding of the importance of affective and calculative commitment in strengthening the satisfaction–loyalty link.