Involvement, Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty in a Small Business Services Setting

Considerable resources are expended annually on building business brands, yet the literature is virtually silent on brand loyalty in a business setting. This study examines the relationship between attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty in a business services context, and attempts to identify two key antecedents of loyalty in this context. In particular, little is known about small businesses as customers, despite their significant contribution to the economies of developed nations. A longitudinal design is implemented, and data are captured on both attitudinal loyalty and subsequent loyalty behaviours (i.e., actual purchase behaviour). The findings demonstrate the value of conceptualizing and measuring both attitudinal and behavioural components of brand loyalty. Specifically, the results indicate that attitudinal loyalty mediates the effects of the antecedents studied (category involvement and purchase satisfaction) on behavioural loyalty. Implications for marketing theory and practitioners are discussed, and possible directions for future research are sketched