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The purpose of this paper is to generate nitrogen-containing groups in the cotton fabric surface via low-temperature nitrogen plasma as an eco-friendly physical/zero-effluent process. This was done for rendering cotton dye-able with Acid Blue 284, which in fact does not have any direct affinity to fix on it.

Dyeing characteristics of the samples such as color strength (K/S), fastness properties to light, rubbing and perspiration and durability, as well as tensile strength, elongation at break, whiteness, weight loss and wettability in addition to zeta potential of the dyed samples, were determined and compared with untreated fabric. Confirmation and characterization of the plasma-treated samples via chemical modifications and zeta potential was also studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Malvern Zetasizer instrumental analysis.

The obtained results of the plasma-treated fabric reflect the following findings: FTIR results indicate the formation of nitrogen-containing groups on cotton fabrics; notable enhancement in the fabric wettability, zeta potential to more positive values and improvement in the dyeability and overall fastness properties of treated cotton fabrics in comparison with untreated fabric; the tensile strength, elongation at break, whiteness and weight % of the plasma treated fabrics are lower than that untreated one; and the durability of the plasma treated fabric decreased with increasing the number of washing cycles.

The novelty addressed here is rendering cotton fabrics dye-able with acid dye via the creation of new cationic nitrogen-containing groups on their surface via nitrogen plasma treatment as an eco-friendly and efficient tool with a physical/zero-effluent process.

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.