Commerce and Management
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Item The Impact of Emotional Brand Attachment on Customer Loyalty of Ayurvedic Skin Care Products: The Mediating Effect of Brand Love Among Young Consumers in Sri Lanka: A Literature Review(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2025) Dissanayake, D. M. T. K.; Dissanayake, D. M. R.This study mainly focused the inter connections amongst Emotional Brand Attachment, Brand Love, and Customer Loyalty while concentrating on the Ayurvedic skincare market in Sri Lanka, especially among young consumers aged 15-29. Due to risk related to synthetic skin care products, young consumers seemed to become loyal to Ayurveda beauty care products that are organic, environmentally friendly, and culturally appropriate. Accordingly, the study investigates how brand love mediates emotional ties to brands and how these influence loyalty behaviors in a diverse and evolving market, drawing on the theories of attachment, self-expansion, and social identity. This paper fills the above-listed gap by exploring these constructs in the context of Ayurvedic skincare, which is a field that is all about consumer values, and traditional practices in combination with current preferences. This study applied a quantitative research design whereby 385 respondents were given structured questionnaires to complete for data collection, and convenient sampling method was used to execute the survey. The statistical analysis carried out by using SPSS-23 version revealed that brand love mediates the impact of Emotional Brand Attachment on Customer Loyalty, Moreover, affection, passion, and self-brand integration of the Emotional Brand Attachment were recognized as the critical elements that boost Brand Love. It then leads to customer loyalty behaviors which can also extend to repurchasing, advocating for the brand, identifying with the brand, and resisting other brands. In addition, the current research points out that loyalty behaviors are not restricted to consumption experiences but create a positive sense of belonging and identification among consumers on the part of the organization or business that is benefiting from their loyalty. In addition, the study also reveals that loyalty behaviors go beyond just the number of transactions but procreate a sense of belongingness to a community and identity among the loyal customers. So, the conclusions strengthen the theoretical assumption on the key role of emotional appeal in branding. A few exceptional Ayurvedic skincare brands that focus on the formation of appealing and meaningful linkages with consumers can enhance their consumer bonds and lay down long-term, positively appealing bonds with them and, thus, achieve sustainable competitive advantages. The stated strategies help not only retain the customers but also build brand image and customer loyalty in the long run. In an industry where competition is high and products are symbolic, emotional branding stands unique as a way for the brands to appeal to the consumer. By combining Emotional Brand Attachment, Brand Love, and Customer Loyalty into a unified framework specially designed for the understudied Ayurvedic skincare industry, this study significantly advances the field of emotional branding. It offers empirical evidence and valuable recommendations to marketers to distill culturally appropriate and emotionally appealing marketing strategies that would appeal to the younger generation. This paper adds to the branding literature by highlighting how branding strategies can resonate with, and thereby gain the support of, this group through appeal to their specific values, goals, and Culture. The work has useful implications for industry practitioners as it underscores the importance of performing analysis and matching the product and communication offers with the culture and emotion range consumers respond to. This therefore shows that Ayurvedic skincare brands must consider emotional branding a factor they can employ to effectively create a wedge between them and other competitors as they seek to create long term relationships with the consumers. Also, the findings provide a research agenda for future research, with directions to understand how the emotional branding strategies can build on the higher levels of brand loyalty in similar markets and consumers segments. This work calls for a comprehensive study of various complexities of the emotional branding approaches that firms could employ to foster helpful brand consumer relationships in various global cultures.Item Investigating the Mediating Effect of Emotional Branding on the Relationship Between Customer Shopping Experience and Customer Loyalty: A Study on Modern Trade in the Western Province, Sri Lanka(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2025) Nalanda, W. W. C.; Bandara, B. S. S. U.This study examines the mediating role of emotional branding in the relationship between customer shopping experience and customer loyalty in Sri Lanka’s modern trade sector, specifically within the Western Province. While existing literature highlights the significance of customer shopping experience and emotional branding, limited research explores their combined influence on customer loyalty in this context. Addressing this gap, the study investigates how emotional branding transforms shopping experiences into long-term customer loyalty, particularly considering factors such as staff behavior, store ambiance, and brand interactions. The findings contribute to retail marketing literature and offer practical insights for businesses aiming to build emotional connections, enhance customer satisfaction, and sustain competitive advantage in Sri Lanka’s evolving retail sector. A quantitative research approach was adopted using a deductive methodology. Data were collected through a Google Survey distributed via social media platforms (WhatsApp, LinkedIn Messenger) targeting customers in the modern trade sector within the Western Province of Sri Lanka. A total of 400 responses were gathered, of which 385 were valid and analyzed. The study employed IBM SPSS Statistics 23 for data analysis, utilizing descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and Sobel mediation tests to assess relationships among key variables and test research hypotheses. This structured approach ensured statistical rigor and provided valuable insights into the mediating effect of emotional branding on customer shopping experience and loyalty. Findings reveal a strong positive relationship among the examined variables. Enhanced customer shopping experiences significantly contribute to customer loyalty, while emotional branding plays a crucial role in strengthening this relationship by fostering deeper emotional connections with customers. Moreover, mediation analysis confirmed that emotional branding significantly mediates the impact of customer shopping experience on customer loyalty, reinforcing its critical role in driving repeat patronage. These results highlight the importance of sensory-rich retail environments, personalized services, and strategic emotional branding in influencing consumer behavior. The findings further validate prior research, emphasizing the power of emotional connections in cultivating long-term customer relationships. However, this study is limited to the modern trade sector within the Western Province of Sri Lanka, restricting generalizability to other geographical locations and alternative retail formats (e.g., traditional trade and e-commerce). Additionally, convenience sampling may introduce biases, potentially affecting the representativeness of the data. Although the sample size is statistically adequate, self-reported data may be subject to response biases. The study offers theoretical contributions by reinforcing the role of emotional branding in fostering customer loyalty through emotional engagement. Practically, it underscores the importance of embedding emotional branding into a retailer’s identity, aligning emotional values with customer expectations, and creating immersive shopping experiences. Key managerial insights suggest that retailers should focus on multi-sensory experiences, data-driven personalization, and consistent omnichannel strategies to enhance emotional engagement. Furthermore, training employees in emotional intelligence and empathy is crucial for delivering emotionally impactful interactions with customers, ultimately enhancing shopping experiences and driving long-term loyalty.Item Effect of Perceived Quality Assurance on Customer Loyalty in Automobile After-Sales Services: Investigating the Mediating Role of Customer Relationship Management(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2025) Perera, G. M. V. D.; Jayawardene, S. M.This research investigates the impact of perceived quality assurance (PQA) on customer loyalty (CL) in the automotive after-sales service sector in Sri Lanka, focusing on the mediating role of customer relationship management (CRM). Sri Lanka’s unique market dynamics, marked by high vehicle ownership costs and reliance on after-sales services, create a critical need for customer retention strategies. This study addresses the discrepancies in the literature regarding the mediating role of CRM in strengthening the relationship between service quality dimensions touch, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy and customer loyalty. Previous scholars have highlighted how integrating quality assurance practices and CRM contributes to sustainable customer engagement and loyalty. In developing countries such as Sri Lanka, the quality of after-sales service is critical for automobile customer loyalty because vehicles are often repaired and used for a long time due to the high purchase cost. Hence, the engagement of automobile customers with aftersales services is very high in countries such as Sri Lanka. However, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding how CRM activities mediate the relationship between perceived service quality and customer loyalty of automobile aftersales industry. Therefore, this research aims to examine the relationship between perceived quality assurance and customer loyalty in automobile aftersales services with special reference to Sri Lanka. A quantitative research approach was adopted using a structured survey distributed to a sample of 400 vehicle customers in Sri Lanka. Data collection targeted key dimensions of service quality, CRM practices, and loyalty indicators. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis, was performed using SPSS software. Hypotheses were developed based on a conceptual framework integrating PQA, CRM, and CL and were tested to determine the strength and direction of relationships among the variables. The results confirm that all dimensions of perceived service quality significantly affect customer loyalty, with assurance and reliability showing the highest impact. CRM emerged as an important mediator, enhancing the impact of reliable quality assurance on loyalty. The findings are consistent with the existing literature, highlighting the importance of service quality dimensions in driving loyalty while expanding knowledge by emphasizing the mediating role of CRM. This study reaffirms the need to integrate robust CRM systems to bridge quality gaps and develop deeper customer relationships. Demographic results indicated that most of the participants were male, had been associated with service providers for more than seven years and lived in the western Province. Cronbach’s Alpha and KMO values were applied to assess the internal reliability and validity of items: all Cronbach’s Alpha values, and all KMO values were above the accepted criteria. Pearson coefficient yielded positive correlation between responsiveness, empathy, and customer loyalty where responsiveness and empathy were most correlated with each other with correlation coefficients higher than 0.7. Estimated results of the regression analysis showed that perceived quality assurance had a very significant positive influence on the dependent variable, customer loyalty and mediating role of CRM. As the table of model summary statistics presented, the R squared values were 0.629 meaning high explanatory power. The overall model indicated the values of B = 0.994 and the significance value of 0.000 for confirming all hypothesis. The study’s reliance on cross-sectional data limits its ability to observe long-term dynamics of customer loyalty. Given the self-reported nature of the data, social desirability bias may affect survey responses. In addition, the single market – Sri Lanka – limits the generalizability of the findings to other geographic contexts or industries. Future studies could address these limitations through longitudinal designs and multi-market comparisons. Theoretically, this research contributes to the limited knowledge on the mediating role of CRM in the PQA-CL relationship in developing economies. In practice, it provides actionable insights for automotive service providers in Sri Lanka, emphasizing the integration of quality assurance and CRM to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Recommendations include standardizing service quality delivery, investing in CRM training, and leveraging data analytics to personalize customer interactions. These steps can guide practitioners in designing effective after-sales strategies. Future research could explore digital CRM tools and evolving customer expectations in the automotive sector.Item Strengthening Customer Loyalty: Exploring the Role of Relationship Marketing in Sri Lanka’s Public Sector Banks(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies University of Kelaniya., 2024-11-11) Madusanka, B. T.; Patabendige, S. S. J.; Dharmawardane, M. N. S. H.Customer loyalty is seen as critical to the long-term success of businesses, where relationship marketing has emerged as a key strategy used to attract, maintain, and enhance customer relationships. However, past studies have found significant differences between factors affecting customer loyalty and satisfaction between private and public sector banks, with calls for public sector banks to adopt more dynamic marketing strategies to bridge such gaps. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty in the context of the public sector banks in Sri Lanka. More specifically, this study examined the direct relationship between trust, commitment, communication, and conflict handling, which are seen as key attributes of relationship marketing with customer loyalty of public sector commercial banks in Sri Lanka. The study used a convenient sampling design with 384 respondents acquired through a structured questionnaire, which captured state commercial bank customers in the Colombo district of Sri Lanka. Data analysis was done using correlation and regression techniques with the support of SPSS software. The findings suggest that all four variables associated with relationship marketing significantly explain the variations in customer loyalty. These findings differ from those of past studies focusing on private sector banks that found trust and communication to be the key relationship attributes that lead to customer loyalty. This research contributes to the limited body of knowledge on relationship marketing and customer loyalty in the public banking sector. It also provides critical input to public sector bankers on avenues for strengthening customer loyalty from a customer relationship perspective.Item The Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Customer Loyalty: A Study of Employees in South Asia Textile (Pvt) Limited(5th HRM Student Research Symposium 2018, Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Wijayasinghe, M. P.; Dharshani, R. K. N. D.The main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of employee organizational citizenship behavior on customer loyalty in South Asia Textile (Pvt) Ltd. The study utilized a quantitative methods and it is cross-sectional study. This is an explanatory research and survey technique is followed. Standard questionnaire was used to collect data. To analyze data SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) was used. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were used as analytical tools. Findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between employee organizational citizenship behavior and customer loyalty. Further, regression analysis showed that there is a minimum impact on organizational citizenship behavior on customer loyalty. The study helps to identify the areas of what are the most facilitating components for the customer loyalty in order to increase their loyaltyItem The Impact of Customers’ Perceived Level of Employee Diversity on the Customers’ Loyalty at Regional Development Bank(5th HRM Student Research Symposium 2018, Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Chathuranga, W. J. L. I.; Devadas, U. M.This study mainly discover about The Impact of Customers’ Perceived Level of Employee Diversity on the Customers’ Loyalty at Regional Development Bank. In here researcher consider four diversity characters of employee i.e. Diversity of Age, Diversity of Gender, and Diversity of Language & Diversity of Nationality. The main objective of this study is to identify the impact of employee diversity on the customer loyalty in banking sector organization. Researcher used standard questionnaire for data collection. 100 Regional Development Bank customers represent as a research sample from five Regional Development Bank branches. Then researcher data analyzed descriptively using Frequencies, Tables & figures. Outcome of this study is that there is a Positive Impact of Customers’ Perceived Level of Employee Diversity on the Customers’ Loyalty at Regional Development Bank. Finally, researcher recommended that Banks’ top management must take decision about increasing employee diversity in the bank as it helps to achieve organization goals and objectives, increase business profitability level & utilizing competitive advantagesItem Store Characteristics and Customer Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Perceived Value.(8th International Conference on Business & Information ICBI – 2017, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Alroaia, Y. V.; Rahayi, S.The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of store characteristics on customer loyalty with the mediating role of perceived value among customers of chain stores in a province in Iran. To answer the research questions and test hypotheses, a questionnaire was distributed among 385 members of the research sample. After collecting the questionnaires, data was analyzed by using Structural Equation Modeling and the results were extracted. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed by using content and construct validity, and its reliability was measured by Cronbach's Alpha test. The results indicated that the questions have high reliability. In terms of construct validity, which was examined by using confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that the questions have appropriate validity. Finally, the results of the data analysis and hypothesis testing indicate that: store characteristics have a significant impact on perceived value and customer loyalty; perceived value, as well, has a significant impact on customer loyalty. The mediating role of perceived value in the relationship between characteristics of store and customer loyalty is also confirmed.Item IMPACT OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY ON CUSTOMER DEMAND OF PRIVATE HOSPITALS: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE JAFFNA DISTRICT.(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya,Sri Lanka, 2017) Randeni, R.K.D.; Ratnam. E.; Sivanenthira, S.Demand generation is the art and science of creating, nurturing, and managing purchase interest in your products and services through campaign management, lead management, marketing analysis, and data management. The idea of demand generation is to get most possible long term surveys from customer demand. Medical clinic would be able to decide which demand is high and which demand would be focused on in order to long term surveys. Nowadays the services of Private Hospital are important in the world. There are many Private Hospital provide services to the people. The Private Hospital are providing variety of services to the people. The Private Hospital use different strategies to attract the customers The Private Hospital Industry is a major service sector in the world economy. The industry encompasses an extensive variety of service industries that include 24 hours service, Ambulance Service, Free service. Private Hospital Industry suffers from fluctuations within an economy every year. In this study, based on the correlation and regression results, Hypotheses H1, H2and H3 were accepted. Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis was conducted on the independent variables in order to determine the reliability of the instrument used. Afsar (2009) has suggested 0.60 as the acceptable level for reliability measure. Alpha values ranged from 0.689 to 0.756, thus indicating an acceptable level of reliability. This finding has confirmed a significant positive relationship among customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and demand of private hospitals in Jaffna district.Item A Study on Assessing the Factors and Extent of Brand Loyalty in Sri Lankan Decorative Paint Industry(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya,Sri Lanka., 2017) Liyanage, T.H.; Fernando, P.M.P.The number of decorative paint companies in the Sri Lankan market is increasing and similar to that the customer demand is also increasing. Today this particular industry has become one of the profitable industries in Sri Lanka. According to the comprehensive literature review carried out, it was noted that 95% of market share has been captured by seven companies out of the 60 brands. This research study was a step towards understanding the factors affecting to brand loyalty and the extent of the loyalty in the decorative paint industry in Sri Lanka. Consistent with the objectives the research questions were set. The hypothesis were based on selected independent factors from literature review. The research approach was consist of quantitative data and the main data collection method was done through a structured questionnaire. 153 customers were selected using convenience sampling methodology for the study. Descriptive statistics was used to present the data and correlation and regression analysis were employed as inferential statistics. According to the results Brand Image, Price, Referral Marketing, Product Quality, Communication, Environmental Friendliness have a direct impact to the attitudinal brand loyalty in decorative paint industry. But the Availability does not have a direct impact to the brand loyalty in the industry. Companies can use research outcomes in order to increase their brand loyalty and reduce cost in retaining customers.Item The Relationship between Customer Loyalty and Value Added Services in Mobile Telecommunication Service Industry in Sri Lanka(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya,Sri Lanka., 2017) Madushani, Y.B.N.; Herath, H. M. R. P.The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between Value Added Services and Customer loyalty in mobile telecommunication industry in Sri Lanka. The research was carried out as a descriptive study. As a pre approach to the research a comprehensive literature has been introduced in the second chapter. According to literature reviewed, a conceptual frame work has built for the study. The third chapter is describing how the whole research has been carried out. This study was conducted in five mobile telecommunication network in Sri Lanka. Data were obtained from questionnaire from a convenience based chosen sample of selected 75 subscribers of the mobile telecommunication industry in Sri Lanka.In this descriptive study, the researcher described the degree and type of value added services adopted by the mobile telecommunication service and degree of relationship between customer loyalty and value added services developed by the mobile telecommunication service providers in the Sri Lanka. The findings indicate that results could statistically confirm there is relationship between the Value Added Services and customer loyalty and Value added services most important to the customers for their lifestyle.