Investigating the Impact of Resilience, Responsiveness, and Quality on Customer Loyalty of MSMEs: Empirical Evidence

Nourhan Ah. Saad, Sara Elgazzar and Sonja Mlaker Kac
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Nourhan Ah. Saad: Logistics of International Trade Department, College of International Transport and Logistics, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria 1209, Egypt
Sara Elgazzar: Logistics of International Trade Department, College of International Transport and Logistics, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria 1209, Egypt
Sonja Mlaker Kac: Faculty of Logistics, Maribor University, 3000 Celje, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Due to the importance of the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector and the negative implications of COVID-19, which resulted in decreasing resource availability, shortages of supply, declining consumer demand and requirements, and a lack of consumer satisfaction and loyalty, this research investigates the impact of resilience, responsiveness, and quality on customer loyalty in MSMEs. An online questionnaire was conducted on MSMEs’ end consumers in the Egyptian context. The analysis was conducted through Amos and SPSS, and the research hypotheses were tested through covariance-based structural equation modelling for 891 valid questionnaires. The findings exposed that there is a positive significant impact for operational resilience (flexibility and technology adoption), responsiveness (delivery fulfillment and speed and after-sale service), and product/service quality on customer loyalty in terms of behavioral, attitudinal dimensions. It contributes to understanding how MSMEs could enhance their sustainable performance (resilience, responsiveness, quality) to reach better customer loyalty. This research presents insights on how the MSMEs sector can adapt to the dynamic business environment in terms of COVID-19 crisis and consumer behavior, which has changed the nature and needs of the market and consumers. In addition, this research extends the theories of Resource-Based View (RBV), Dynamic Capability View (DCV), and Theory of Consumption Value (TCV) in an empirical contribution through filling the gap in understanding consumers’ needs in terms of resilience, responsiveness, and quality.

Keywords: responsiveness; resilience; quality; Egypt; customer loyalty; micro; small and medium-sized enterprises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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