Customer Company Identification and Customer Loyalty: Using the Social Exchange Theory Perspective: Customer Reciprocity as a Mediating Factor

Abstract

The paper is has used the social exchange theory as well as the social identity theory in exploring the link between two key factors emerged in the service profit chain theory (SPC) developed by Heskett et al. (1994). In other words, this study investigated the impact of customer company identification on customer loyalty by adding the role of customer reciprocity as a mediating factor. Date collected from 201 service companies from different service businesses using a survey approach. A SmartPLS package was used to check data reliability and validity and to test hypotheses for paths using a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach. Findings supported the key link between CCI and CL and the role of customer reciprocity as a mediating factor has been validated as well. Some implications have been provided for theory and managers.