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Wine consumer behavior has long been a topic of discussion among scholars and industry professionals aiming to understand the underlying predictors of key behavioral outcomes. To help explain wine consumer behavior, concepts such as involvement, expertise, loyalty, satisfaction and perceived risk are often examined. The overarching objective of this study is to determine the relationship between these predictors and their impact on wine purchase intention utilizing a meta-analytical structural equation modeling (MASEM) technique.

As MASEM provides substantive evidence regarding the relationships between theoretical constructs through the combination of multiple studies, the researchers’ aim is to make definitive statements about the predictors of purchase intention.

Findings revealed several relationships that support previous research but also identified relationships that contradict previous literature. This study contributes valuable insights into consumer behavior that wine brands can utilize to improve their marketing efforts.

Wine marketers with a greater understanding of the stronger predictors of purchase intention should be able to create marketing plans that drive wine sales.

Despite the abundance of research that has utilized these theoretical constructs to demonstrate their propensity for determining behavioral outcomes such as purchase intention, no previous attempts have synthesized this body of literature through the use of meta-analysis.

The operations and viability of microfinance institutions (MFIs), crucial for socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, heavily rely on the multilevel relationships among borrowers, loan officers and MFIs. This study examines the relationship between interpersonal and firm-level relationship quality (RQ) and their simultaneous impact on customer loyalty (CL) in microfinance. Additionally, it investigates the mediating effect of firm-level RQ between CL and interpersonal RQ.

In this study, correlational research methods were employed. Completed questionnaires were received from 498 MFI borrowers in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza cities. Regression techniques and structural equation modeling were utilized to analyze the data. Before hypothesis testing, the validity and reliability of the measurements were confirmed.

Interpersonal-level and firm-level RQs are significantly related. Interpersonal-level RQ and its dimensions are significantly linked to CL, whereas firm-level RQ and its dimensions are insignificantly related to CL, except for commitment. Interpersonal-level relationships have a stronger impact on CL than firm-level relationships. Among all the dimensions of RQ, commitment has the greatest influence on CL at both levels. Firm-level RQ negatively and insignificantly mediates the relation between interpersonal-level RQ and CL.

The study findings only apply to Tanzania's microfinance industry, because the interactions between and the relative effects of firm and interpersonal ties may vary across various contexts and cultures. Future research may consider replicating this study in other contexts and cultures to confirm these findings.

This study advances the understanding of how multilevel relationships affect CL within the microfinance industry. This insight will assist MFIs and policymakers in identifying alternative and more efficient relational strategies to enhance CL, a critical element for the sustainability of MFIs. In turn, the sustainability of MFIs in low-income countries like Tanzania holds paramount importance for stimulating socioeconomic development and, hence, achieving the goal of poverty eradication.

While previous studies on multilevel relationships concentrated on a single relational dimension (trust) and were conducted within the realms of retail, airline and industrial manufacturing, the current study employs the three most popular relational dimensions: trust, commitment and satisfaction, within the microfinance context. Additionally, this study investigates the mediation effect of firm-level RQ between interpersonal-level RQ and CL, a previously unexplored area in research.