Title: What determines customers' loyalty towards telecommunication service? Mediating roles of satisfaction and trust

Authors: Hiram Ting; Kim-Lim Tan; Xin-Jean Lim; Jun-Hwa Cheah; Qian-Hui Ting; Hui-Bun Ting

Addresses: Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, UCSI University, Lot 2976, Block 7, Muara Tebas Land District, Sejingkat, 93450 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia ' Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, Suntec Tower 4, 038986, Singapore ' School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Business, Curtin University, CDT 250, 98009 Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia ' Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, UCSI University, Lot 2976, Block 7, Muara Tebas Land District, Sejingkat, 93450 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to: 1) examine the effects of corporate image, pricing, service quality and network quality on customer loyalty in the Malaysian mobile telecommunications sector; 2) to determine the mediating effects of customer satisfaction and trust. The study's hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). In total, 388 respondents participated in this study. Our findings revealed that network quality and corporate image exert a positive effect on customers' satisfaction and trust which in turn influence customers' loyalty. In addition, the mediation results showed that both trust and satisfaction mediate the relationship between network quality and loyalty as well as between corporate image and loyalty. Thus, it is recommended that telecommunications service providers in Malaysia should further improve on their network coverage and corporate image to effectively address the needs of their customer base and ultimately retain its loyalty.

Keywords: loyalty; trust; telecommunications; satisfaction; S-O-R model; Malaysia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2020.111179

International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 2020 Vol.11 No.3, pp.234 - 255

Received: 19 Oct 2019
Accepted: 24 Apr 2020
Published online: 12 Nov 2020 *

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