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This study aims to examine the influence of relational capital quality on client loyalty, comprising both behavioral and attitudinal, in the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan.

The partial least squares technique is used to test the relationship using a sample of 111 pharmaceutical firms. We applied a non-parametric procedure, the bootstrapping method, to estimate the coefficient path of the relationships. Appropriate construct measures were used based on past studies to measure the dimensions of relational capital quality and client loyalty.

The findings suggest that relational capital quality significantly affects client loyalty. All three dimensions of relational capital quality, commitment, satisfaction and trust, have a significant and positive influence on both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. However, client satisfaction is found to exert the strongest impact on behavioral and attitudinal loyalty.

It is important for the pharmaceutical firms in Pakistan to improve client satisfaction to establish behavioral loyalty and sustain their clientele base. Trust and commitment should be managed independently, depending on the focus of firms, either attitudinal loyalty or behavioral loyalty.

This study is among the few that was able to empirically examine the role of various dimensions of relational capital quality in influencing clients’ attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. In addition, the study uses a new firm-level data set, compiled from a survey of the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan, which is currently facing challenges in terms of customer–supplier sensitivity.

Hairstyling entrepreneurs are experiencing increasing customer demand alongside the market competition. Building commercial friendships are one of their strategies to beat the competition. However, the marketing benefits in terms of loyalty and pricing from this strategy are unknown. Following suggestions from the relationship marketing theory (RMT) that business benefits are gained from commercial friendships, this study aims to use ideas from RMT and those from models proposed by Bove and Johnson (2002) and Han et al. (2008) to examine the impact of hairstylist-client commercial friendship on four dimensions of personal loyalty to individual hairstylists and clients’ willingness to pay a premium price (WTPP).

Quantitative methods were used to collect and analyse data obtained from 562 hairstylists’ clients who had maintained the same hairstylist for 10 months in Johannesburg metropolis. Structural equation modelling using SmartPLS was used to test a conceptual model with eight hypotheses.

The results revealed that commercial friendship positively impacted affective, intention and behavioural personal loyalty dimensions and explained 49%, 47.9% and 46.9% of the variances, respectively. Of the four dimensions of personal loyalty, only behavioural loyalty positively influenced WTPP.

Unlike previous studies’ main focus on business-to-customer relationships and loyalty from a unidimensional perspective, this study contributes by revealing four dimensions of personal loyalty applicable in the haircare service sector. The findings confirm the business benefits suggested by the RMT, by showing that commercial friendship generates clients’ WTPP when they are behaviourally loyal. This guarantees profits and highlights the importance of nurturing close relationships in personal services.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the stability or loyalty in the auditor‐client relationship. It explores the association between audit fees and auditor loyalty. Specifically, it investigates whether clients paying less audit fees relative to other companies in their industries are more likely to be loyal to their auditors.

Logistic and ordinal regression analyses are used to compare loyal clients to clients that switched audit firms after controlling for factors that are expected to be associated with client loyalty.

Results show that relative audit fees have a significant effect on the degree of loyalty of clients to their audit firms. Additional analysis shows that the loyalty of clients that pay higher audit fees relative to similar clients in their industry are highly affected by increases in audit fees. However, the loyalty of clients who pay lower audit fees compared to similar clients in their industry is not affected by further increases in relative audit fees.

The study does not differentiate between auditor dismissal and auditor resignation in the classification of clients that switched auditors. It also does not classify auditor switches into auditor‐initiated switches and client‐initiated switches.

It is cost effective for clients to stay with the same audit firm. Audit firms should be careful when adjusting their audit fees from one period to another, as there is a higher probability of losing a client, when increasing the audit fees, especially if this client is already paying higher audit fees relative to similar clients.

The findings of this study increase the understanding of how relative audit fees affect client loyalty in the audit market.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between audit service quality, client satisfaction and loyalty to the audit firms. SERVQUAL model was used to measure the perceptions and expectations of public listed companies on the services received from audit firms.

The five dimensions of SERVQUAL, i.e. reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy and responsiveness was used to measure the service quality of audit firms. The research was conducted using primary data. Questionnaires were sent to 500 public listed companies listed in Bursa Saham Malaysia for year 2005.

The public listed companies were satisfied with the tangible dimension but were dissatisfied with the other four dimensions. The most dissatisfied dimension was empathy. Customer satisfaction was found to partially mediate the relationship of reliability and customer loyalty.

The small sample size is a limitation of the study. Also, the study examined all services offered by audit firms. A larger sample size and focusing on a particular service would be better as the respondents would then be able to give a more focused answer. Also, the public listed companies were not analysed further into various industry types, size of firm and other corporate attributes to understand their different needs.

The study defines the attributes of quality services from the clients' perspective. Once the needs are more clearly known and understood, the audit firms will be in a better position to anticipate clients' requirement rather than to react to clients' dissatisfactions.

The paper uses a marketing model, SERVQUAL, to measure the service quality of audit firms.

This paper aims to examine loyalty formation, including service quality, perceived value, image and satisfaction as determinants, and their effect on the financial performance of Islamic banks.

Data were collected from 280 Islamic bank clients in Indonesia and bank financial performance data from bank financial reports. Variance-based partial least square modelling was used to assess the relationships between loyalty, its determinants and their influence on bank financial performance.

This study finds that client loyalty towards Islamic banks is most influenced by perceived service quality and perceived value. Further, this study documents the importance of client loyalty in influencing bank financial performance and indirect effect of clients’ satisfaction on financial performance through the strengthening of client loyalty.

This study offers a path for the managers of Islamic banks to enhance financial performance by enhancing client loyalty. To develop client loyalty, this study suggests that Islamic banks should offer economical and service-derived benefits that are superior to those other banks offer. Further, Islamic banks need to ensure that their business operations are compatible with Islamic values.

This is an early empirical study attempting to examine the link between customer loyalty and its impact on Islamic bank financial performance.

The study aims to consider the overall impact of the service encounters and projects undertaken on the long-term relationship between the agency and its clients.

The study uses a parallel mixed-method design incorporating quantitative and qualitative elements in the client–advertising agency context. Data obtain via an online survey in Study 1 were analysed using structural equation modelling and bias-corrected bootstrapping technique. Study 2 featured 15 in-depth interviews with marketing managers and project leaders.

The findings revealed that advertising agencies deliver value and create trust through creativity aspects as well as project management processes. In addition, both perceived value and trust have crucial roles in fostering client–agency relationships and the continuance of business relationships. Value has a stronger direct effect on loyalty when compared with trust, confirmed by the results of Study 2. Several respondents pointed out the influence of client characteristics on both evaluation of creativity as well as loyalty.

The results highlight the importance of project management and planning which should be seen as an investment by both parties. Moreover, agencies need to involve clients in the creative process and focus on marketing themselves and the value they add to enhance client loyalty.

This study was the first to develop a model for the drivers of loyalty, drawing from literature in three key areas: service quality, relationship marketing and project management. An additional contribution of the study stems from the incorporation of an integrated parallel mixed-methods approach.

Supported by the omnichannel strategy, the objective of this study is to identify the influence of integrated interaction quality and perceived fluency of service channels on attitudinal loyalty in the banking sector and to test the mediating effect of positive affect in these relationships.

This paper proposes a model that relates the constructs of integrated interaction quality, perceived fluency, positive affect, and attitudinal loyalty. A survey of 337 Brazilian bank clients was conducted and structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.

The results indicate that the construct of integrated interaction quality exerts positive influence on the loyalty of bank clients. The direct effect of the construct perceived fluency on loyalty is not significant. The results also demonstrate that positive affect exerts a mediating effect on the proposed relationships between the constructs.

This research assists banks in identifying relevant points regarding their service channels, so that they can determine how to generate positive experiences and customer loyalty through an omnichannel strategy. One can observe the behavior of banking consumers and develop business strategies based on the service channels, which aim to create a more profitable and loyal customer portfolio.

This study expands the literature regarding the omnichannel strategy by extending focus to include bank marketing, which is infrequently included in the body of such literature. This study also expands bank marketing research by including constructs that deal with consumer experience and loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the psychological bond on behavioral loyalty (word‐of‐mouth, continuance and non‐audit services) to audit firms providing services to companies listed on the Polish Stock Exchange.

A model is proposed and tested using structural equation modeling with LISREL. Data were collected from top executives of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The psychological bond has a positive effect on word‐of‐mouth, continuance and non‐audit services.

The current research is limited to the investigation of the psychological bond as an antecedent of behavioral loyalty in Poland. Future research should identify and assess other antecedents and replicate these across different countries. A longitudinal survey across different points in time might reveal more useful information about auditor‐client relationships.

Auditors need to consider ways in which they can develop the psychological bond with their clients. This bond is the basis for the client believing the audit firm is superior to others, which has been found to lead to behavioral loyalty in this study. In particular, management of the auditor brand and reputation, personal experience of the audit firm and alumni relations are discussed as ways of enhancing the psychological bond among client executives.

This study is the first to examine the impact of the psychological bond on behavioral loyalty in auditor‐client relationships.

This study aims to examine factors driving millennial loyalty towards artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled mobile banking services in Islamic banks.

This research collected the data from 204 millennial customers of Islamic banks in Aceh, Indonesia. Partial least square (PLS) was used to evaluate the effect of service factors (the need for service and service quality), technology-based factors (attitudes towards AI, relative advantage, security and trust) and religiosity on millennial loyalty towards AI-enabled mobile banking.

This inquiry reveals that service quality, attitude towards AI and trust are determinants important for millennial loyalty towards AI-enabled mobile banking. Further, this research notes the significant role of religiosity on millennial loyalty towards mobile banking services.

This study suggests Islamic banks focus on developing millennial trust and attitude towards AI to increase their loyalty towards AI-enabled mobile banking services. Further, Islamic banks operation that complies with Islamic law is strongly suggested to develop millennial loyalty.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that tries to scrutinize loyalty towards AI-enabled mobile banking.

This study aims to fill an important gap in the literature by exploring the moderating role of client‐company relationship type on the impact of service recovery judgments on clients' trust and loyalty intentions.

A sample of 216 Brazilian banks clients who made a complaint to their bank within the previous 12 months answered the survey. Data collection took place at a major Brazilian international airport. In terms of relationship type, the authors segmented their sample in two groups: relational and transactional clients. They used multi‐group structural equation modeling to test their hypotheses.

Relational clients showed higher switching costs, trust, and loyalty intentions than transactional clients. The client‐company relationship type also moderated the impact of distributive justice on satisfaction, satisfaction on trust in the management policies and practices (MPP trust), and switching costs on repurchase intentions. MPP trust fully mediated the effects of trust in frontline employees (FLE trust) on loyalty (repurchase and WOM intentions).

The findings suggest that stronger client‐company relationships may limit the impact of service and recovery failures on customer trust and loyalty. This is a critical piece of information for banks as they could customize their recovery strategies to fit the different types of relationships they have with their clients.

By exploring the impact of the type of relationship on the service recovery process and their consequences, this study answers the following important research question: do ongoing client‐company relationships buffer the impact of service recovery on trust and loyalty intentions?