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Factors promoting customer citizenship behaviours and the moderating role of self-monitoring: a study of ride-hailing services

Estelle Van Tonder (Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa)
Daniel J. Petzer (Henley Business School Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa and Department of Marketing Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa)

European Business Review

ISSN: 0955-534X

Article publication date: 18 July 2022

Issue publication date: 5 October 2022

490

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to broaden understanding of why customers engage in helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Beyond traditional attitude–behaviour relationships, limited insight is available on the additional role of symbolic factors, such as self-congruence perceptions, in motivating citizenship behaviours. Literature further suggests self-monitoring affects social behaviours, yet extant research has not accounted for this personality trait’s moderating influence on customer helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Accordingly, a research model is developed, providing novel insight into factors promoting helping and feedback citizenship behaviours and the moderating role of self-monitoring in a ride-hailing service context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is guided by self-monitoring literature and the social exchange and similarity-attraction theories. Survey data from 609 ride-hailing customers in an emerging market country is analysed using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, and the chi-square difference test.

Findings

This study shows that perceived justice (a cognitive attitudinal factor) influences helping citizenship intention in the low self-monitoring group, while self-congruity (a symbolic factor) affects helping and feedback citizenship intention in the high self-monitoring group. Affective commitment towards the ride-hailing brand (an affective attitudinal factor) does not impact customer citizenship intentions.

Research limitations/implications

Although customers may be interested in brands’ functional and symbolic benefits, positive attitudes about the service experienced motivate low self-monitors, while a symbolic-driven factor like self-congruence is more successful in motivating high self-monitors to engage in customer citizenship behaviours.

Originality/value

Novel insight is obtained into the additional influence of self-congruity on customer citizenship behaviours, a neglected factor in extant research involving customer citizenship behaviours that is explained by the similarity-attraction theory. Furthermore, this study provides a pioneering view of the relevance of the self-monitoring theory in moderating customer citizenship behaviours, specifically in ride-hailing services.

Keywords

Citation

Van Tonder, E. and Petzer, D.J. (2022), "Factors promoting customer citizenship behaviours and the moderating role of self-monitoring: a study of ride-hailing services", European Business Review, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 876-896. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-09-2021-0197

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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