Corporate Reputation As A Stimulus For Customer Loyalty: A SEM Technique

Abstract

The study investigates the effect of corporate image, corporate trust, service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in the telecommunications sector. The proposed conceptual model shown in the research draws from these firmly established theoretical frameworks, wherein corporate image, trust, and service quality are suggested as antecedents to customer satisfaction which is proposed to drive customer loyalty thereafter. The study used SEM to analyze survey data for validating measurement model and testing hypothesized paths. The results indicate strong reliability and validity, with statistically significant path coefficients that support all proposed hypotheses. Among different things to be discussed in the paper, customer satisfaction will be presented as a strong mediator of all possible paths, linking service quality, trust, and image into customer loyalty. The model explains 80.4% of total variance in customer satisfaction and 72.8% in customer loyalty, hence showing a very high predictive relevance. The study indicates the strategic importance of trust building, service excellence, and brand reputation while emphasizing the long-term relationship with customers. Also discussed are the implications for marketing strategy and service management, as the paper is thought to provide specific inputs to practitioners for facilitating customer retention and competitive positioning.