The Effect of Customer’s Greenness and Perceived Value on Loyalty in Industrial Relationships. The Role of Communication and Relationship Length

Abstract

This study explains the formation of loyalty based on green values, perceived value and marketing communication. A conceptual framework is developed and tested with a global sample (n=121) of industrial customers. The results indicate that a) green values have a positive relationship with perceived value, b) perceived value has a positive effect on communication quality and loyalty whereas its effect on channel effectiveness is insignificant, c) channel effectiveness has a direct positive relationship with loyalty whereas the effect of communication quality on loyalty is insignificant, and d) relationship length has a moderating effect on perceived value-loyalty, channel effectiveness-loyalty and communication quality-loyalty links. The moderating effect is positive for the communication quality-loyalty links whereas, surprisingly, the effect is negative for channel effectiveness-loyalty and perceived value-loyalty links. The study provides both theoretical and managerial contributions.