The role of brand love on bank customers' perceptions of corporate social responsibility

Abstract

PurposeThe lovemarks theory (love and respect) is fairly new to the marketing literature and is now gaining much attention among marketing scholars. The study examined how brand love and brand respect moderate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR), trust (TRUS), satisfaction (SAT) and loyalty (LOY) among bank customers in an emerging/and or a developing country's context.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey approach was used. Data from a total of 769 banking customers, containing demographic and psychographic measures were used.FindingsThis study tested six (6) hypotheses. The results confirmed the moderating role of brand respect on the relationship between CSR and TRUS in the banking sector. Also, our results reveal that BLOV moderates the relationship between SAT and LOY. The rest of our hypotheses did not confirm any significant relationship between them.Research limitations/implicationsLike any academic exercise, this study also has some limitations. The hypotheses tested for brand love on bank customers' perceptions of CSR were based on a country study. The implication of brand love for CSR may be the same or vary in different country contexts.Practical implicationsThe study provides managers of banks and managers of financial institutions a better understanding of how love and respect could play a role in their loyalty program and how to incorporate these new constructs into the already known constructs such as satisfaction, trust and loyalty.Originality/valueThis study is unique because it quantitatively examined the relationships between well-researched constructs corporate social responsibility (CSR), trust (TRUS), satisfaction (SAT) on loyalty (LOY) as well as examining these constructs with a fairly new constructs brand love (BLOV) and respect (BRES) in a single study.

Brand bank attachment to loyalty in digital banking services: mediated by psychological engagement with service platforms and moderated by platform types

“…The second, more significant path is rather indirect and created through customer psychological engagement with the digital platform. This finding corresponds with a previous study conducted in traditional settings, suggesting a mediation role of customer engagement (Moliner-Tena et al, 2019;Amegbe et al, 2021) and underlining its relevance to the digital context.…”

“…The degree of relationship connection and intensity between customers and branded banks encompasses emotional attachment (Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2005;Thomson et al, 2005;Levy and Hino, 2016) and brand love (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006;Batra et al, 2012;Amegbe et al, 2021;Hafez, 2021). Research on traditional banking indicates that emotional attachment can lead to customer loyalty (Levy and Hino, 2016;Moliner-Tena et al, 2019;Monferrer et al, 2019).…”

“…Some are dedicated to customer engagement and website attributes (Khan et al, 2016;Islam et al, 2020). However, research on crucial emotional or psychological factors is generally limited, mainly dealing with traditional banking services (Levy and Hino, 2016;Moliner-Tena et al, 2019;Amegbe et al, 2021;Hafez, 2021), while research on experiential and emotional aspects of loyalty is rather scarce in digital banking services (Filotto et al, 2021). Specifically, empirical research on the relationships between emotional attachment, psychological engagement in digital platforms and bank loyalty is very limited, although much needed.…”

“…, 2005; Levy and Hino, 2016) and brand love (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006; Batra et al. , 2012; Amegbe et al. , 2021; Hafez, 2021).…”

The Relationship of CSR Communication on Social Media with Consumer Purchase Intention and Brand Admiration

“…Further, the consumers feel admired for purchasing a socially responsible bank. In this context of the banking industry, different scholars have established that CSR-S of a bank creates a feeling of brand love on the part of consumers, and eventually, they develop a sense of brand admiration for their bank [17,89,90]. The consumers further pursue that their bank ethically seeks profit maximization and keeps the societal benefits at the forefront while making different business strategies for expansion and growth.…”