What drives loyalty for low income earners in emerging markets?

Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of loyalty for low income earners in emerging markets. A survey of 287 customers of specialized banks (banks built for low income earners) in Abakaliki Nigeria was conducted. The hypotheses under study were tested using factor and regression analysis. The results from the test show that determinants of customer loyalty include satisfaction, trust as well as perceived service quality. However, corporate image is not a determinant of customer loyalty. This study offers important implications to researchers as well as practitioners and highlights the insignificance of the company’s image to customer loyalty which is a basis for further studies. In the Nigerian societal context, corporate social responsibility (CSR) which in turn gives rise to corporate image is viewed as an act of philanthropy and mostly carried out by most multi-national companies (MNCs). The CSR programmes of these Multi-nationals mimic the CSR programmes of western economies neglecting local realities and the peculiarities of the Nigerian diverse economy occasioned by socio-economic challenges.