Building Customer Loyalty Through Emotional Connection: How Service Provider Rapport Drives Sustainable Business

Yuxin Wang, Zheng-Jun Jin, Chang-Hyun Jin and Changfang Kan ()
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Yuxin Wang: Department of Service Management, Korea Aerospace University, Goyang-si 10540, Republic of Korea
Zheng-Jun Jin: Department of Business Administration, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea
Chang-Hyun Jin: Department of Business Administration, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea
Changfang Kan: Department of Industrial Design, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-22

Abstract: This research examines how interpersonal rapport influences sustainable customer relationships during service failures, with a focus on customer empathy as a mediating factor and emotional intelligence and service authenticity as moderating variables. In the context of sustainable service management, analysis of data from 672 respondents through structural equation modeling reveals that rapport significantly affects both cognitive and emotional dimensions of customer empathy, subsequently enhancing satisfaction and long-term loyalty outcomes. This study demonstrates that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between rapport and cognitive empathy, while service authenticity moderates rapport’s associations with both empathy components. This investigation advances sustainable service recovery theory by illuminating customer empathy formation within rapport-building processes and validating the moderating effects of emotional intelligence and service authenticity. The findings contribute to the sustainable service management literature by empirically confirming these relationships within the rapport–empathy–loyalty framework, suggesting that service providers should emphasize developing meaningful interpersonal connections to ensure sustainable customer relationships, particularly during service recovery situations. This research provides valuable insights for developing sustainable service practices that enhance both social and economic aspects of service organizations, while offering quantifiable metrics for measuring socio-emotional sustainability in service recovery contexts. This approach aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by promoting responsible consumption and production patterns in service industries, while fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth through enhanced service quality and customer relationship management.

Keywords: sustainable service management; service failure; rapport; customer empathy; sustainable customer loyalty; emotional intelligence; service authenticity; socio-emotional sustainability; sustainable service recovery; relationship sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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