Maren KnappeKundenloyalität im internationalen Vergleich

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Customer loyalty is a central construct of marketing research and practice. A differentiation between brand, dealer and service loyalty is relevant in the automotive industry. Customers can build relationships with different reference objects, such as the brand, the dealer or the service. So far, only a few scientific findings in terms of the interrelation between the three constructs exist. Furthermore, there are deviating empirical results concerning the kind of the interrelation, therefore it remains ambiguous. Thus, the fundamental objective is a theoretically well-grounded study model that explains the effect of relationships between the three types of loyalty, and to empirically verify their interrelation. A further field of research of this work is the analysis of the loyalty behavior of different customer segments, which, so far, have been rarely considered in empirical studies. Hence, the distinction between customers of volume and premium brands, which is common in the automotive industry, is applied. In light of the expansion into new international markets of many automotive manufacturers, it is essential for them to know the country-specific needs and desires of customers, and to explicitly incorporate these into their customer relationship strategy. Moreover, understanding cultural differences in the formation of customer loyalty is a prerequisite for the developing of suitable steering measures. However, there have been no transnational studies that differentiate between brand, dealer and service loyalty. Rather, international scientific research is confined to one of the three loyalty constructs. Here, the three loyalty constructs are analyzed for Germany and China as these two countries are the most important sales markets for European automobile manufacturers and they also show great cultural differences. In summary, dealer loyalty is the core driver of brand loyalty both for the premium and the volume brand in Germany and China. Based on these research findings, this book derives recommendations for marketing research and management.