Abstract:
The customer loyalty (CL) landscape has changed with advances in technology. In
an increasingly competitive and regulated telecommunications sector (telco), it is
imperative for telco companies (telcos) to maintain customer relationships through
customer satisfaction (CS) and CL. In order to address CL, telcos invest significantly
in loyalty programs (LPs), furthermore through advancements in data collection,
telcos are able to offer personalised pricing (PP) to customers in the hopes of
positively influencing CL. However, the effectiveness of these offerings and their
components have produced mixed results within the extensive LP and developing
PP literature. This study used a descripto-explanatory quantitative research
approach that tested the moderating effects of LPs and PP on a sample of 214 SA
telco respondents. The research found a positive relationship between CS and CL,
which concurs with the existing findings within the telco industry. The results of the
overall constructs of LPs and PP did not find moderating effects on the relationship
between CS and CL. However, looking further into LPs and PP components,
significant positive moderation exists through interactions of LPs’ financial and social
benefits, as well as PP special treatment on components of CL. Telcos may leverage
these findings to prioritise and improve their offerings to customers to enhance CS
and CL, as well as gain the most benefit from their investments.
