The relationship of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in Celcom Malaysia

Abstract

Telecommunications is a key enabler of productivity in today's economies and societies. The fierce market competition among companies has increased dramatically in recent years, and attracting new potential customers is no longer sufficient to keep up with their competitors' business growth. Therefore, maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty is a critical strategy for maintaining its competitive advantage. Customers purchase services based on how well their needs and expectations for service quality are met. According to this statement, the primary goal of this research is to gain a better understanding of the dynamic relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction, as well as their impact on customer behavior. Despite the fact that this research area has been thoroughly examined, there is little empirical evidence that it has been applied to subscribers in the telecommunications industry in Malaysia. The research's main goals are to identify and analyse factors that influence customer satisfaction and loyalty in the context of Celcom's subscribers in Malaysia. This research also investigated the role of customer satisfaction as a mediator of the relationships between service quality dimensions and customer loyalty. Few underpinning theories, such as Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), have been used to aid in depicting the inter-relationships among service quality dimensions, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. This research employed quantitative method, and data (through questionnaires) were collected from Celcom's subscribers via online and handout within Malaysia. 430 responses were gathered using convenience sampling. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and SmartPLS applications. The findings revealed that customer satisfaction is evidently a predictor of customer loyalty. Furthermore, customer satisfaction was positively influenced by network, mobile devices, customer services, and pricing structure, and not by the value-added services and billing system. The findings also revealed that customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between service quality dimensions (network, mobile devices, customer services, and pricing structure) and customer loyalty. In conclusion, the findings provide practitioners with a more comprehensive model for analysing customer loyalty and also provide factors that help Celcom create a seamless relationship with customers in order to gain customer loyalty that develops the re-purchase desire.