The nexus between CRM and competitive advantage: the mediating role of customer loyalty
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) components on competitive advantage through customer loyalty in the banking sector of Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire was used for the data collection process. In all, 326 respondents were participated in the survey and selected conveniently from the commercial banks of Bangladesh. Data were analyzed by using Smart-PLS software.
Findings
The outcomes of this study indicate that customer orientation and technology capability have a positive impact on competitive advantage, while customer knowledge does not. Besides, customer loyalty significantly mediates the relationship between customer orientation and technology capability with competitive advantage, while this mediation effect appears insignificant between customer knowledge and competitive advantage.
Practical implications
This study's findings can help Bangladeshi bank managers communicate with new customers about their promotional activities while keeping old customers informed about new CRM initiatives.
Originality/value
This study adds to the existing pool of knowledge on CRM components, customer loyalty and competitive advantage literature. Particularly, the mediating role of customer loyalty between the CRM components (customer orientation and technology capability) and competitive advantage is the unique contribution of this research.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This study is not financially supported by any individual or organization.
Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest among the authors regarding the publication of this manuscript.
Rashed Al Karim has received his PhD from Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is serving the School of Business Administration, East Delta University as an Associate Professor. He has a number of publications in the reputed national and international journals such as Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism, British Journal of Marketing Studies, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Research, Global Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Marketing and Information System, etc. He has presented and published several international conference papers. He can be reached at rashed@eastdelta.edu.bd.
Mirza Mohammad Didarul Alam has received his PhD from OYA Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is currently serving the Department of Marketing, College of Economics and Political Science, Sultan Qaboos University as an Assistant Professor. His research interests revolve around retail marketing, consumer behavior, service marketing, technological innovation, technology adoption and micro entrepreneurship. He has a number of publications in the reputed international journals including Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Information Technology for Development, Journal of Knowledge Management, Strategic Change, Technology in Society, Journal of Biomedical Informatics, Journal of Marketing Communications, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Behaviour and Information Technology and International Journal of Emerging Markets, just to name a few. He has also presented his research works in several international conferences. He is a recognized reviewer of several reputed international journals. He can be reached at mirza@bus.uiu.ac.bd.
Maha Khamis Al Balushi has received her PhD from the University of Manchester. She has published several articles in the national and international journals. Her research interests revolve around branding, fashion marketing and heritage marketing. She has published in several international journals. She can be reached at can be contacted at: maha@squ.edu.om.
Citation
Al Karim, R., Alam, M.M.D. and Al Balushi, M.K. (2023), "The nexus between CRM and competitive advantage: the mediating role of customer loyalty", Nankai Business Review International, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/NBRI-04-2022-0040
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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