Purpose On the basis of the social identity and congruity theories, the present research aims to propose that value congruity directly affects customer–brand identification (CBI), affective brand commitment and customer–brand engagement (CBE), which, in turn, paves the way for advancing consumer relationships with hospitality brands, as measured through brand loyalty. As such, this study serves to enhance existing insight into customer relationship management dynamics, with a particular focus on hospitality brands. Design/methodology/approach The present study develops a theoretical framework that is empirically investigated by using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling analyses. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire of 340 customers of four- and five-star hotel brands in India. Findings The results suggest value congruity as an important driver of CBI, affective commitment and CBE within hospitality brands. The results also reveal CBI to act as a significant predictor of affective commitment, CBE and brand loyalty. Furthermore, affective commitment and CBE are the significant drivers of loyalty to hospitality brands. Research limitations/implications The research is exploratory in nature and is restricted to four- and five-star hotel customers, thereby reflecting important limitations of this study. Given these issues, ample opportunities exist for further research to further explore and/or validate the reported findings. Practical implications The current research provides new insights for marketing practitioners planning or implementing long-term customer relationship management strategi3es that centre on customer–brand identification, customer–brand engagement and brand loyalty. Originality/value Despite existing insights, empirical investigation into the proposed conceptual relationships remains limited to date, particularly in the hospitality industry. By offering empirical evidence in this area, this study adds to the extant body of knowledge on CBI/CBE-centric customer relationship management.

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Executive Summary The competition among the organizations is increasing continuously and there has been a rapid shift in the business process deliverance. Financial service firms are striving to improve their business processes by liaising with customers to survive and compete successfully. The literature has obstinately emphasized on the utmost importance of trust and loyalty to survive in the financial sector. This study aims to explore the role of customer knowledge management (CKM) and satisfaction as antecedents of customer trust in the retail banking sector. The causal relationships existing between CKM, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty are explored. The mediating role of customer trust in the knowledge–loyalty and satisfaction–loyalty relationships is also explored. The data has been collected randomly from 412 customers of a private bank through survey by questionnaire. The research instrument has been developed and purified through factor analysis (confirmatory factor analysis). Structural equation modelling (SEM) has been employed to examine the causal relationship and fitness of the proposed model. The findings of the study reveal that CKM and satisfaction positively impact customer trust, and customer trust has a significant impact on loyalty. Besides, trust partially mediates the effect of knowledge and satisfaction on loyalty. The findings of the study are valuable to managers and strategists in understanding customer need in order to formulate the relevant customer loyalty programmes. However, the study focused on retail banking sector and uses data from a single bank only. Future research may evaluate the generalizability of findings across other banks as well as other nationalities. The main contribution of this study is to the loyalty literature by empirically validating the identified antecedents and demonstrating their role in managing loyalty. Furthermore, the study provides some valuable insights into the relational exchanges between variables wherein some inferences are derived from results regarding trust and loyalty.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enlarge the current understanding of destination image in view of identified sources of risk and to investigate the mediating role of government initiatives and media influence for sustainable and secure tourism in a conflict zone. Therefore, this study develops and empirically tests an integrative model of destination image that reflects a comprehensive view of the relationships among these variables. Design/methodology/approach The study uses data collected through a self-administered survey of respondents selected through probability area sampling from the targeted sample of domestic tourists in hospitality contexts (four- and five-star hotels). The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The scale was developed and purified through factor analysis (confirmatory factor analysis). Findings The results provide evidence that psychological risk and socio-cultural risk emerged as the major sources of risk followed by unrest (terrorist) and political risk which is against the predetermined notion that unrest (terrorist) risk is the major source of risk perceived by domestic tourists visiting a conflict zone. Further, the study identified that media is having comparatively higher role in influencing the perception about the sources of risk than the government initiatives in decreasing the sources of risk towards destination image and its competitiveness. Thus, the study supports the fact that for the destination image in conflict zone, performing best in the domain of control (government initiatives) yields very weak performance in the domain of concern (media). Originality/value This research contributes theoretically and empirically to the discussions on the components of the destination image in the conflict zone. Further, the study is inert in evaluating mediational role of media influence and government initiatives in the relationship between perceived risks and destination image.

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