A Structural Model of Digital Marketing, Consumer Satisfaction, and Brand Loyalty

Abstract

The study proposes and validates a structural model between digital marketing, consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty to understand the digital channels and practices which lead to long-lasting customer relationships. The model builds on the concepts of relationship marketing and technology-acceptance by suggesting that the dimensions of digital marketing effectiveness operationalized as content relevance, personalization, interactivity, and omnichann as el consistency have a positive impact on perceived value and trust which further positively influence consumer satisfaction, thereby promoting brand loyalty. The data of this survey were gathered from 620 consumers who have recently interacted with branded digital campaigns in both retail and services industries and used CFA and SEM to evaluate the measurement construct and paths of hypotheses. Results showed that digital marketing effectiveness has a significant direct influence on perceived value (β = 0.57; p< .001), and trust (β = 0.49; p< .001). Perceived value and trust are the key factors that predict consumer satisfaction (β = 0.41 and 0.33, respectively, p < .001), and consumer satisfaction mediates the relationship between perceived value/trust and brand loyalty. As for the direct effect, satisfaction has the highest value with brand loyalty (β = 0.62, p < .001), and the total mediation test scores demonstrate that the digital marketing direct effect on brand loyalty is mostly indirect through perceived value, trust, and satisfaction. Multi‐group analyses reveal that, overall, the model is robust across age groups, but, in this case, personalization has a greater influence on perceived value among younger consumers. The study is theoretically valuable as it merges the elements of the digital marketing with the existing attitudinal constructs, while empirically quantifies the indirect channels to loyalty. Managerially, the results recommend focusing on delivering the right, personalized and consistent digital experience that fosters trust and perceived value, for improved satisfaction and loyalty. There are a number of limitations, such as cross-sectional design and self-reported measures of which future research should include longitudinal and/or behavioral data to validate causal dynamics.