Enhancing customer relationships with retail service brands: The role of customer engagement

Purpose – The concept of customer engagement (CE) has emerged as an important indicator of customer-brand relationship strength. However, limited research exists to provide insight into how CE enhances the effectiveness of building such a relationship in retail services. The purpose of this paper is to extend the current understanding of CE through examination of its role in the development of customer-brand relationship quality. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypotheses contained in the proposed conceptual model, the authors used a quantitative method that included a survey questionnaire to measure customers’ perceptions with respect to the constructs of interest. Specifically, two studies were conducted in Australia. Study 1 was intended to empirically test the theoretical relationships among the constructs, while Study 2 aimed to replicate the proposed model with a different sample to enhance external validity. Findings – In two separate studies, the results of a structural model show that the emerging concept of CE plays a significant role in building customer-brand relationship quality and, subsequently, customer loyalty toward the retail brand. Research limitations/implications – This study focusses on retail store brands only and used a cross-sectional design, which does not involve examination of cause-and-effect relationships. Practical implications – From a practical point of view, the findings suggest that marketers should actively embrace strategies to foster CE to enhance brand relationship quality, and ultimately, forming a loyal customer-brand relationship. Originality/value – The study makes an original contribution to the retail services literature by empirically demonstrating the relevance of CE in both customer relationship management as well as brand management.