The increasing role of the customer experience, based on the feelings the customers acquire from the interaction with a firm’s product and services, has been considered an effective influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customer satisfaction also plays a linking role in the performance–loyalty link. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of the social- and cultural-experience dimensions on loyalty towards hotel services, with customer satisfaction playing a mediating role. Based on a cross-sectional survey of 532 customers of three-star hotels in Lagos State, Nigeria, the analysis was carried out with partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results showed that social and cultural experience jointly account for about 38% of the variance in consumer loyalty, customer satisfaction has a moderate impact size on loyalty, and social and cultural experiences have a moderate and low effect size on customer loyalty, respectively. The study further established an indirect and significant effect to show that customer satisfaction partially mediates the association between cultural experience and loyalty and the association between social experience and loyalty. Consequently, since the hotel service environment provides the types of experiences that customers expect, sustainability strategies based on the aspects of the hotel service environment would provide memorable experiences for guests’ satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, this study has both theoretical and practical implications for researchers and practitioners, by suggesting additional dimensions to the traditional customer-experience realms.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected all sectors of the economy, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, it has been observed that while some SMEs succumb to the pandemic, others thrive. Therefore, the study investigates the influence of market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation as well as their dimensions on the performance of SMEs in the COVID-19 era. A cross-sectional research design was adopted in the study. The data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 385 SME owners and managers in Lagos State, Nigeria. 328 copies of the questionnaire, representing 85.1%, were retrieved and used for the analyses. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that entrepreneurial orientation and its dimensions significantly influenced SME performance. Innovativeness and pro-activeness positively influenced performance, while risk-taking negatively influenced performance. Furthermore, the findings indicate that market orientation and its dimensions have no significant influence on SME performance during COVID-19. The insights from the findings will help SME owners and managers to run their operations in a challenging business environment. It will also help SME development agencies in their efforts to encourage SME growth and long-term viability. AcknowledgmentsThe authors appreciate the SME owners and managers who served as respondents for the study.
The moderating variable has the tendency of increasing or decreasing the strength of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. However, factors that moderate this relationship have scarcely been research upon in the hotel services sector. This study therefore examined the moderating effects of five salient demographic variables (sex, age, education, occupation, income) on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. The study employed descriptive research design with cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire to collect the data. The data were analysed using percentages and General Linear Model (GLM). The results show that age, education, and occupation significantly moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty while sex and income do not at the 0.05 significant level. Based on the findings of this, it is therefore recommended that hotel managers should consider the significant effect of age, educational qualification, and occupation in determining the extent of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty when formulating and implementing marketing strategies.Contribution/ Originality: This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the moderating effects of five salient demographic variables (sex, age, education, occupation, income) on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Social entrepreneurship has gained increasing attention as a means to address social problems, including poverty, in Nigeria. Poverty is a major challenge in Nigeria, with a poverty rate of over 40%. Poverty alleviation is critical to achieving sustainable development in the country. Social entrepreneurship can play a key role in addressing poverty by creating jobs, providing access to goods and services, and promoting economic growth. Hence, this study examines bolstering the impact of social entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation for sustainable development in Nigeria. The research focuses primarily on fostering economic, social, and environmental improvements, as well as improving people’s lives. Three hypotheses were formulated to help accomplish the primary objectives of the study. The Opportunity-Based Entrepreneurship Theory, Social Network Theory, and Schumpeterian Theory of Innovation were used to explain the objective of the study. In this study, a purposive sampling technique was used, and 300 copies of structured questionnaires were administered to selected social entrepreneurs of which 262 copies were retrieved and used for the analysis. The data were analyzed using structural and measurement models, and the path coefficient was determined using PLS-SEM. The significance level was calculated using the bootstrapping method. The results from the test of hypotheses showed that; the most significant predictor of poverty alleviation is social innovation (β = 0.376, p < 0.05), followed by the social value (β = 0.314, p < 0.05), and finally, social impact (β = 0.231, p < 0.05). This study concludes that social innovation is fundamental for empowering individuals and communities to lift themselves out of poverty and achieve long-term prosperity. The study recommends that to promote sustainable social entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation in Nigeria, the government can create policies and programs that support social innovation, such as providing access to funding, business training, and mentorship. The government can also collaborate with entrepreneurs and organizations to promote their initiatives and create a supportive ecosystem for social entrepreneurship.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.