Brand commitment as a determinant of customer loyalty: evidence from the corporate banking sector
Privrženost brendu kao determinanta lojalnosti klijenata: primer korporativnog bankarskog sektora
Abstract
Bank managers have pointed to the relevance of corporate clients, because of the complexity of their financial requirements in comparison with final consumers, as well as their contribution to the bank profitability. Since long-term profitability is one of the primary goals and loyal corporate clients represent the main generators of future cash flows, banks concentrate their efforts to meet demands of their clients in order to create long-term relationships. The multiple benefits of achieving customer loyalty indicate the need to determine the role of determinants such as commitment and satisfaction in order to formulate appropriate marketing strategy. The aim of this research is to determine the role of brand commitment in the process of developing loyalty of corporate clients in banking sector of the Republic of Serbia. The research involves different antecedents of commitment and customer satisfaction as important loyalty drivers. Also, this study emphasize trust and social bonding as important antecedents of affective, and attractiveness of alternatives and costs related to loss of benefits as the antecedents of calculative commitment. The contribution of the conducted research is reflected in filling the identified gep in the existing literature, as well as providing some evidence that has relevant theoretical and managerial implications in banking sector.
Apstrakt
Menadžeri brojnih banaka neretko ukazuju na relevantnost korporativnih klijenata, imajući u vidu kompleksnost njihovih finansijskih zahteva u poređenju sa finalnim potrošačima, kao i njihov doprinos profitabilnosti banke. Budući da je dugoročna profitabilnost jedan od primarnih ciljeva svake banke i da lojalni korporativni klijenti predstavljaju osnovne generatore budućih novčanih tokova, banke koncentrišu svoje napore ka zadovoljenju zahteva svojih klijenata, kako bi uspostavile dugoročne odnose. Višestruke koristi postizanja lojalnosti klijenata ukazuju na potrebu utvrđivanja uloge determinanti kao što su privrženost i satisfakcija, kako bi se kreirala optimalna marketing strategija. Stoga, cilj ovog istraživanja usmeren je ka utvrđivanju uloge privrženosti brendu u procesu razvoja lojalnosti korporativnih klijenta u bankarskom sektoru Republike Srbije. Istraživanjem su obuhvaćene različite antecedente privrženosti i satisfakcija klijenata kao važan pokretač lojalnosti. Rezultati realizovane studije ističu poverenje i društvene veze kao važne antecedente afektivne, a atraktivnost alternativa i troškove propuštene prilike kao antecedente kalkulativne privrženosti. Doprinos sprovedenog istraživanja ogleda se u popunjavanju identifikovanog gepa u postojećoj literaturi, kao i obezbeđenju svojevrsnih dokaza, koji imaju relevantne teorijske i menadžerske implikacije u oblasti bankarstva.
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