Mootealloo, A., Sannegadu, R., Pudaruth, S., Juwaheer, T.D. and Gupta, S.
This paper explores the factors impacting upon customer loyalty among customers in the telecommunications industry in Mauritius. This study has employed the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as the underpinning theory to explain customer loyalty. The survey was conducted using self-administered questionnaire. Out of a total of 325 questionnaires, 300 were usable indicating a response rate of 92.3%. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 3.0 software. Results of the study revealed that brand image, price, perceived trust and perceived service quality significantly impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. The proposed model has shed light on the important factors determining customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and will aid marketing managers to understand and identify the specific antecedents of service quality and trust that may influence customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study has offered numerous theoretical and practical insights to the academic community, policy makers and practitioners of mobile operating sectors of small and developing island economies. Although, the validated model for driving customer loyalty in the telecommunications sector represents an innovative approach of understanding customer loyalty from both theoretical and practical perspective, there are other antecedents of customer loyalty that should be tapped in future research on customer loyalty to increase the predictive power of the model. This research is one of the pioneers conceptually driven studies that has made a unique attempt to explore customer loyalty from grounded theoretical underpinnings for small developing states. Likewise, this research offers a new practical roadmap on how telecommunication providers can enhance customer loyalty in a small developing state.