The Role of Emotional Brand Image as a Moderating Variable in the Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Committed Loyalty

Abstract

In a modern era of globalization and fierce competition, companies are now in an unprecedented need to differentiate their brands as they strive for everlasting business viability. Hard as it is to believe, reports now show that the average glorified fortune 500 company is expected to expire in only about 40 years; which means that most of them will probably be outlive by the majority of their employees and customers (Reichheld et al 2000). It is undeniable that factors such as the globalization of competition, saturation of markets, and the development of information technology have led to almost identical product and service quality as well as similar prices and relatively lower switching costs. These factors have become basics and are no longer regarded as unique selling propositions in most markets and especially in the mobile telecom industry. It is now upon companies to use other tactics to win customers over and retain them for good (Kuusik, 2007). This can be done by tackling loyalty from a different angle. There are many definitions, descriptions, segmentations and categorizations of loyalty throughout the literature and many have stressed on the role of satisfaction as an antecedent and predictor of loyalty. However; contemporary research has begged to differ; Reichheld et al (2000) describe this false emphasis on satisfaction as falling into the “satisfaction trap” and plead that there may be other factors at play. Upon revisiting previous studies and literature findings, the researcher first examines the concept of loyalty then moves on to researching some of the potential variables that could be related to filling the gap between satisfaction and loyalty to enhance our ability to predict how customers behave and respond to marketing efforts. Commitment was observed as the number one key characteristic of loyalty at its utmost level. It ensures having whole heartedly committed customers. The researcher has also come to a belief that there should be an underlying emphasis on emotional branding as brand images have been considered as very effective carriers of emotion. This emotional trigger could perhaps create a much needed bond with the customer. Therefore this research examines the degree to which satisfaction can be used as a reliable predictor of loyalty as well as the effect of emotional branding as a moderator in this relationship. This study was applied to mobile phone service users in the Egyptian telecom industry.