What drives the satisfaction and loyalty of foreign investors in a locality? Empirical evidence in Nghe An, Viet Nam

Abstract

The study aims to examine the factors affecting the satisfaction and loyalty of foreign investors in a locality through ‘hard’ infrastructure and ‘soft’ infrastructure factors. The author used Cronbach’s Alpha, EFA, and SEM to analyze primary data and test the hypothesis. The findings indicate that factors such as Infrastructure, Human Resources, Investment Policy, Living Environment, Local Brand, Quality of Public Services, and Local Advantages impact FDI investors’ satisfaction. Meanwhile, Competitive input costs are the only factor affecting the loyalty of FDI investors which differs from previous research. These results serve as a crucial foundation for Vietnamese municipalities to implement various strategies to enhance satisfaction and bolster the loyalty of FDI investors, ultimately amplifying the draw of foreign direct investment into the area.