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The purpose of this study is to revisit brand performance metrics (BPMs) (brand affinity, brand content and knowledge, brand image, brand ethics and brand value) and evaluate the moderated mediation effect of relationship quality (mediator) and relationship duration (moderator) in brand performance and customer loyalty relationship in an Indian banking context.

The research model was tested in the Indian banking sector. The primary data was collected from the 1,000 account holders of five Indian public and private banks. The data was analysed and validated using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling and the Hayes process were used for testing the hypotheses.

The study results established BPMs as a four-dimensional structure comprising brand affinity, brand content and knowledge, brand image, brand ethics and brand value. The BPMs significantly positively impact relational quality (RQ) and customer loyalty. Further results also prove the existence of moderated mediation effect on BPMs and customer loyalty link and portray that the impact of BPMs on customer loyalty is mediated by the RQ and influenced by relationship duration.

The study is confined to the Indian banking sector. It did not examine the dimension-wise impact of brand performance indicators on RQ and customer loyalty. Future research is required to explore their influence in banking and other sectors.

The study findings suggest that to enhance brand performance, banks need to follow excellence in every conduct, take immediate actions against inappropriate behaviour, consistently update their relevant and valuable contents (news, videos, white papers, e-books, case studies, FAQ’s, photos, etc.) on their websites and also introduce loyalty schemes to reimburse customers’ interests with some substantial benefits such as rebates, discounts, annual gifts and extraordinary or additional services. These strategies can pave the way for enhancing long-term quality relationships between customers and their service providers and increasing customer loyalty.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is a maiden attempt to assess the effect of BPMs on customer loyalty in the presence of RQ and at the value of relationship duration/length. Besides, the study results also prove the existence of moderated mediation effect and portray that the impact of customer equity and relational benefits on customer loyalty is influenced by relationship duration and mediated by RQ.

User-generated content (UGC) and service failure have attracted considerable marketing inquiry over the last two decades. Previous studies primarily focused on the outcome of service failure and the impact of UGC on perceived failure severity. This article departs from previous studies as it examines the moderating role of UGC on the relationship between service failure recovery (SFR) and customer–brand relationship.

Building on commitment-trust theory and from a phenomenological hermeneutical perspective, this article explores this phenomenon through the interpretation of 60 in-depth interviews with millennials from three European countries: Italy, France and the UK. An analysis of the data was conducted using a qualitative approach to understand the main constructs and relationships derived from the data.

This study conceptualises four distinct moderating characteristics of UGC in the SFR process: satisfaction with experience and brand, dissatisfaction with experience and brand, satisfaction with brand and dissatisfaction with brand. The insights from the responsiveness, empathetic response, counterfactual thinking and brand salience (RECB) framework contribute to research on UGC and shed light on the relationship between SFR and consumer–brand relationships in the fashion industry.

Overall, this study demonstrates that customer interactions with UGC significantly affect their responses to, and relationships with, a brand. The proposed framework opens up interesting avenues for future research on the moderating role of UGC on the relationship between SFR and customer–brand relationships.

Customer relationships and transforming customers into evangelists are imperative in today's world. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the influence of online brand experience (OBE) on brand evangelism (BEM) via relationship quality (trust-TRT, satisfaction-SAT, and commitment-CMT) by integrating the moderating effects of brand reputation (BR), particularly in the Vietnamese banking sector.

This research obtained data from 486 Vietnamese customers who routinely used online banking services. The analysis was performed using structural equation modeling.

The findings demonstrate that OBE directly/indirectly positively affects BEM via relationship quality (TRT, SAT, CMT). Likewise, this study identified relationship quality (TRT, SAT, CMT) as an important mediator. Finally, the findings demonstrate that the moderation effects of BR significantly improved relationship quality (TRT, SAT, CMT) in the banking industry.

This study showcases the significance of OBE in increasing brand evangelists in the financial sector. Thus, this study assists Vietnamese bank managers in creating new branding strategies to foster long-lasting customer relationships.

This original study contributes to the commitment-trust theory and signaling theory by examining the impact of the OBE on brand evangelism via relationship quality by considering the moderating effect of brand reputation in the Vietnamese banking sector.

This paper aims to illustrate the impact of brand love on customers’ purchase intention in the presence of store aesthetics, store price image and customers’ demographic variables as moderating variables for hypermarket brand stores.

For achieving the objectives, a survey is conducted on the sample of 515 respondents those are the customers of hypermarket brand stores. The collected sample is analysed through structural equation modelling and moderation analysis by using AMOS.

The findings indicate various insights in terms of the results of moderation analysis. This study explains a significant moderation of store aesthetics, customers’ age and their local region for the brand love-purchase intention relationship in the research context.

The present study examines relevant moderators for brand love-purchase intention relationship by empirical means for hypermarket brand stores that is an under-explored researched context in Indian context. It adds considerable insights for academics and managerial practices in the arena of customer-brand love and emotional affiliation.

This research aims to address the need for a more in-depth empirical investigation of exploring the link between the adoption of corporate citizenship (CC) practices and different aspects of customer behavior in a developing country. Also, it develops a research framework and assesses the mediating role of brand image, brand love, brand reputation and brand trust between customer perceptions of CC and customer loyalty.

Working with a sample of 290 private bank customers in Iran, partial least square-based structural equation modeling is used to test the conceptual model.

The findings reveal significant and positive relationships between CC, brand image, love and reputation. Indirectly and in the relationship between CC and customer loyalty, there are significant relationships through the serial roles of image-reputation, image-love and image-trust. Most importantly, the findings add value to the current knowledge by exploring the mediating effect of brand image, love, reputation and trust between CC and customer loyalty. Finally, this study has resulted in an updated prediction model of private banking customer loyalty.

This study makes a unique theoretical contribution to the literature by evaluating and comparing the mediating role of image, love, reputation and brand trust between CC and customer loyalty using the hierarchy of effects model.

This study aims to examine the roles of advertising (ADV) and sales promotion (SP) in creating airline brand equity (BE) in the UAE, and to test the mediational effect of customer perceived value on the proposed relationships. Additionally, the study examines the outcomes of airline BE (i.e. trust, satisfaction and loyalty).

A structured and self-administered survey was used targeting 234 passengers, from which 197 were valid for the analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the research constructs unidimensionality, validity and composite reliability.

The empirical findings support the direct relationship between ADV and BE. Perceived value fully mediates the effect of SP on BE. In addition, BE positively affects trust, satisfaction and loyalty.

Future research could investigate BE and perceived value as multidimensional constructs. Additionally, future research should expand the effect of other variables such as airline type, airline class and other marketing mix elements.

The findings from this research highlight the importance of both ADV and sale promotion in enhancing airline BE, and the pivotal role of perceived value.

The originality of this research is highlighted in conceptualizing a parsimonious model of the preceding constructs (i.e. ADV, SP, customer perceived quality) and subsequent constructs of BE (i.e. customer trust, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty), which has never been investigated collectively in one model in the literature particularly in the airline’ context of emerging economies such as UAE.

This study aims to examine the influence of dimensions of the psychological contract on strengthening customers' switching barriers through the mediating role of service brand love.

The study used a cross-sectional survey research design to collect data from 406 respondents from commercial banks in the banking industry. A quantitative approach using structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected through structured questionnaires.

The findings revealed that dimensions of the psychological contract, namely, ideological, transactional and relational psychological contract, significantly influence the strengthening of customers' switching barriers when mediated by service brand love.

Managers should consider adopting high-intensity relationship approaches that go beyond mere customer satisfaction to ensure customer retention.

While customer retention remains the primary avenue for establishing competitive advantages, there remain unresolved issues regarding what determines customers’ intentions to stay or switch. This study represents one of the initial endeavors to explore the psychological contract within the context of the service industry. It contributes to the existing knowledge by enhancing the understanding of the mechanisms that can impact customers' switching barriers and complements the literature on customer retention in the service domain.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of the marketing world. This study is the first to examine the effect of AI marketing efforts, brand experience (BE) and brand preference (BP) in light of the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model.

The data collected from 398 participants by the questionnaire method were analyzed by SEM (structural equation modeling) using Smart PLS 4.0 and IBM SPSS 26 programs.

We find that four SOR elements of AI marketing efforts (information, interactivity, accessibility and personalization) positively impact bank customer BE, BP and repurchase intention (RPI). Further, we find that BE plays a mediator role in the relationship between AI marketing efforts, RPI and BP.

The findings of the study have significant implications for the bank marketing literature and the banking industry, given the limited evidence to date regarding AI marketing efforts and bank–customer relationships. Moreover, the study makes important contributions to the AI marketing and brand literature and helps banks increase customer experience with artificial intelligence activities and create long-term relationships with customers.

Corporate hypocrisy occurs when a discrepancy exists between corporate talk and actions. As companies assume more extensive economic, societal and global roles, they are more likely to encounter situations in which their words and actions are inconsistent. Therefore, a company’s ability to cope with such situations is becoming increasingly important. This study aims to examine the negative effects of corporate hypocrisy on corporate reputation. First, it reveals the underlying mechanisms by presenting corporate trust and affective commitment as parallel mediators. Additionally, it explores how corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions mitigate the indirect effects of corporate hypocrisy.

Data were collected through an online survey conducted at two time points in the context of Korean retail banking companies. A total of 313 respondents participated in a two-wave online survey using a multistage sampling technique to ensure a representative population sample. This study used the Mplus-based Hayes’ PROCESS Macro to test the research hypotheses.

The results show that corporate hypocrisy negatively affects corporate reputation by impeding customers’ corporate trust and affective commitment. These negative indirect effects are mitigated when customers’ perceptions of CSR are high.

By establishing a parallel moderated mediation model that captures the impact of corporate hypocrisy. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study presents important academic and managerial implications that have not been provided in the literature.

Gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline industry has faced many restrictions. Based on the determining factor of repurchase intention, this research paper addresses the roles of brand engagement (BE) and consumer trust during the pandemic.

A number of 439 out of 500 questionnaires, which were distributed among the Iranian airlines' customers, were completed and returned (an 87% response rate). SmartPLS 3 was used to carry out the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in order to validate the research hypotheses.

The results show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, BE had a significant effect on customer purchase intention. In addition, BE boosted customer trust and thereby increased repurchase intention. Perceived risks of COVID-19 moderated these relationships. The findings also show that airline customers are highly sensitive to various perceived risks and were especially so during the COVID-19 pandemic. These perceived risks have major impacts on customers' intention to reuse the services of airline companies. High levels of perceived risk decrease customer trust, BE and repurchase intention rates, and vice versa.

This paper provides authorities and decision-makers of the air transport industry with several practical recommendations based on the research findings. As the results confirmed, there is a worthwhile relationship between BE and customer trust; regarding the both direct and indirect benefits of customer trust for for-profit firms and the huge importance of trust in creating competitive advantages, different airline companies need to implement various strategies to engage customers with their brand names, and thereby institutionalize trust in their customers' minds during the pandemic. Since customer trust was also found to improve repurchase intention rates significantly, authorities of the airline industry must take actions to reduce feelings of mistrust and risk among consumers and increase customer trust during COVID-19.

This paper is the first to explore the effect of BE on airline customers' repurchase intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has produced practical suggestions to employees and activists of the air transport industry regarding the use of BE as a tool to restore customer trust during and after the COVID-19 epidemic. This research focuses on the airline industry, which is particularly interesting given the industry's intensely competitive environment and the dramatic effect of COVID-19 on the industry.