A novel approach to consumer loyalty: A case study of hospitality service organisations among Generation X and Y

Abstract

Consumer loyalty is considered one of the significant factors that affect market growth and consumer behaviour. Regardless of the numerous studies on customer loyalty, the authors found no empirical study that elaborates on the importance of customer loyalty across generations. The majority of previous studies have proposed customer engagement and customer involvement as one construct in predicting customer loyalty. Thus, the current research tries to fill this gap in the literature by proposing a new model of customer loyalty blends multidimensional consumer involvement as predictors, multidimensional consumer online engagement as a mediator, and finally the moderating role of different generations (X and Y) in the hospitality services context. Present research collected (N = 390) data from Malaysia hospitality service organisations and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The results approve all the direct relationships as well as the moderating effect of generation generations X and Y. Moreover, the results confirm the mediating role of consumer online engagement among consumer involvement dimensions and consumer loyalty. The current study highlights significant implications to facilitate and increase consumer loyalty in the hospitality services context, especially in the airline, and hotel industries.