Causal Factors Influencing Customer Loyalty in the International Freight Forwarding Business: The Mediating Roles of Customer Satisfaction and Customer Engagement
Keywords:
Logistics Service Quality, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Engagement, , Customer Loyalty, Freight Forwarding BusinessAbstract
This study aims to investigate the causal factors influencing customer loyalty in the international freight forwarding business by examining the effects of logistics service quality and customer relationship management on customer loyalty, with customer satisfaction and customer engagement serving as mediating variables. An online questionnaire was employed as the primary instrument for data collection. The study population consisted of 400 international import-export entrepreneurs who utilize international freight forwarding services. Convenience sampling was employed by distributing the questionnaire via email to the target group. Data were analyzed using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) to examine the causal relationships among variables and to assess model fit using various indices, such as CMIN/df, RMSEA, CFI, and TLI.
The research findings revealed that customer engagement had the strongest direct positive effect on customer loyalty, followed by customer satisfaction. Logistics service quality demonstrated direct effects on both customer satisfaction and customer engagement, while customer relationship management showed no direct effect on customer satisfaction but had a direct effect on customer engagement. Additionally, customer satisfaction and customer engagement played a partial mediating role between logistics service quality and customer relationship management with customer loyalty. These findings suggest that entrepreneurs should focus on developing logistics service quality across three dimensions: capability, process, and outcome quality, alongside developing customer relationship management systems that emphasize engagement creation, in order to establish sustainable competitive advantages through the enhancement of long-term customer loyalty.
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