The influence of social media service quality on client loyalty in the South African banking industry

Orientation: The impact and growth rates of Facebook and other forms of social media have made it imperative for all businesses to ensure they have social media strategies in place. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure the influence of social media service quality on client loyalty in the South African banking industry. Motivation for the study: There are limited studies conducted in developing countries such as South Africa that focused specifically on the social media service quality and client loyalty in the banking industry. Research design, approach and method: The study used a quantitative approach and a descriptive research design to test the proposed hypotheses. An online survey on Facebook was used to collect the data from a sample of 377 respondents who had interacted with the five major banks in South Africa on the said platform. A snowball sampling technique was used to identify the appropriate respondents. The data was analysed with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to assess the model fit. Main findings: Findings of the research study proved that the social media system’s availability, fulfilment and privacy have a significant influence on the overall service quality of social media, which leads to client loyalty in the South African banking industry. Practical/managerial implications: The study recommended that managers and marketers should constantly evaluate, monitor and improve the overall service quality of social media offered to their clients, as it leads to a corresponding increase in client loyalty in the South African banking industry. Contribution/value-add: The study provided empirical evidence, which contributed to the body of business and marketing knowledge in a South African banking context