INVESTIGATING BRAND LOYALTY OF INTERNAL CUSTOMERS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF BRAND TRUST

Abstract

The present study aims to empirically explore the brand loyalty of internal customers. In this context, business characteristics are included as independent variables, and brand characteristics and trust in the brand are included as serial mediators. The comprehensive framework for internal customers has the potential to offer a novel insight into the brand loyalty concept. Indeed, internal customers have more information about the products and the firm. In addition, they have more physical proximity than external customers. Due to these advantages, internal customers are likely to have a higher cognitive awareness of the company and the brand. This provides an important contextual argument to explain brand loyalty more precisely. To operationalize the model in this framework, survey research was conducted on employees working in different roles and positions in the automotive industry in Germany. The survey research collected a data set consisting of 880 units. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hypothesis testing were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and Process Macro extension. The findings indicate that brand and company characteristics have a significant and positive effect on brand trust and brand loyalty. Trust in the brand, which is also a mediating variable, has a significant and positive effect on brand loyalty, which is the dependent variable. In addition, because of both Baron and Kenny's causality analysis and the mediation test conducted within the framework of contemporary Bootstrap methods, it is seen that trust in the brand has a full mediating role in the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Keywords

• Brand Loyalty
• Trust in Brand
• Internal Customer
• Brand Characteristics

OTOMOTİV SEKTÖRÜNDE İÇ MÜŞTERİLERİN MARKA SADAKATİNİN İNCELENMESİ: MARKAYA OLAN GÜVENİN ARACILIK ROLÜ

Abstract

Bu çalışma, iç müşterilerin marka sadakatini görgül olarak incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu kapsamda iç müşterinin markaya sadakatini açıklamak için oluşturulan modelde işletme özellikleri bağımsız, marka özellikleri ve markaya duyulan güven de seri aracı değişken olarak yer almaktadır. İç müşterilere yönelik kapsamlı çerçeve, marka sadakati olgusuna farklı bir bakış açısı sunma potansiyeline sahiptir. Nitekim iç müşteriler, dış müşterilere kıyasla ürünler ve firma hakkında daha fazla bilgiye ve fiziksel yakınlığa sahiptir. Bu özelliklerinden dolayı, iç müşterilerin işletme ve marka hakkında daha yüksek bir bilişsel farkındalığa sahip olması muhtemeldir. Bu da marka sadakatini daha net bir şekilde açıklamak için önemli bir bağlamsal argüman sunmaktadır. Bu çerçevedeki modeli operasyonel hale getirmek için, Almanya'daki otomotiv endüstrisinde farklı görev ve pozisyonlarda çalışan personel üzerinde bir anket araştırması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Anket araştırması ile 880 birimden oluşan bir veri seti elde edilmiştir. SPSS 26.0 ve Process Macro eklentisi kullanılarak açımlayıcı faktör analizi (AFA), doğrulayıcı faktör analizi (DFA) ve hipotez testleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular, marka ve şirket özelliklerinin markaya ilişkin güven ve marka sadakati üzerinde anlamlı ve pozitif yönde etki ettiğini göstermektedir. Yine aracı değişken konumundaki markaya olan güven de bağımlı değişken olan marka sadakati üzerinde anlamlı ve pozitif etki etmektedir. Ayrıca hem Baron ve Kenny’nin nedensellik analizi hem de çağdaş Bootstrap yöntemleri çerçevesinde yapılan aracılık testi neticesinde markaya olan güvenin de bağımlı ve bağımsız değişkenler arasındaki ilişkide tam aracılık rolüne sahip olduğu görülmüştür.

Keywords

• Marka Sadakati
• Markaya Olan Güven
• İç Müşteri
• Marka Özellikleri

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