Empirical Study For Drivers And Mechanism Of Customer Loyalty In Lodging Industry

With the speedy development and fierce competition of service industry since 1990s, customer loyalty was even more important for the existence and grows of any service enterprises, it was a key assign to foster and hold the loyalty customer colony for boost its competition advantage. So it is a focus that the era has given to enterprises and the academia to carry out profound research on the connotation, structure of customer loyalty and its mechanism of drive.This study aims to make a localized study on the customer loyalty of service enterprises. First, at the exploration of relevant literature about the service marketing and relationship marketing, this paper reviews the factors which make the most important effect to customer loyalty from these two domains. Then, the author takes lodging industry as the research object; a conceptual model with 9 hypotheses is constructed. At last, the model is empirically tested through the investigated statistics.After revision of the hypothesis the author makes the conclusion as following: 1. Service marketing is more important than relationship marketing in the lodging industry at the currently environment; 2. The direct and indirect effects of perceived quality, customer perceived value on customer loyalty are supported, the direct effect of customer satisfaction on loyalty is marked; 3. Perceived quality has the biggest total effect on loyalty, customer value is the next, and customer satisfaction is the last one. Based on the conclusion, the paper puts forward two managerial implications: the key assign for the domestic lodging enterprises is service marketing at the currently management environment, and should consider the importance of the relationship marketing at a strategic view; if the enterprises aim to create customer loyalty through the perceived quality, it must consider the mediator effects of customer value and customer satisfaction. We wish the study will give a suggestion to the lodging enterprises managers, and make some basic exploration for the domestic service field.