Strategies to enhance consumers’ identification with a service firm
Abstract
Purpose
Enhancing consumer-company identification (CCI) is a useful means by which to build deeper, more committed relationships with consumers. The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumers’ perceptions about the company (service quality and corporate social responsibility) and construal of the self (independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal) affect their identification with a service firm. This study also investigates how consumers’ involvement with the service firm moderates the relationships between CCI and four specific drivers.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is developed and empirically tested through two field-based studies (restaurant services and financial services) and one follow-up laboratory experiment.
Findings
The results of this research show that service quality, corporate social responsibility and interdependent self-construal positively affect CCI and that independent self-construal has a negative effect on CCI. In particular, the greater the involvement of the consumer with the service firm, the more positive the effects of service quality and corporate social responsibility are on CCI.
Practical implications
This research provides new insight into services marketing management by suggesting that service firms can enhance CCI and, consequently, consumer loyalty by adopting different strategies for specific consumer segments.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study to simultaneously incorporate both company characteristics and consumer personal factors into a framework, and provide an integrative understanding of what factors determine consumers’ identification with a service firm.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Science Council in Taiwan for their financial support (Grant NSC 101-2410-H-110-008-MY2).
Citation
Huang, M.-H. and Cheng, Z.-H. (2016), "Strategies to enhance consumers’ identification with a service firm", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 449-461. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-10-2014-0340
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited