Investigating the relationship between customer knowledge management and customer loyalty: mediating role of customer value (Case study: Saderat Bank of Khozestan)

Customer orientation has attracted increasing importance and considered as the main competitive advantage of organizations in the process of firm achievement. If an organization can satisfy its customer and attract loyal customer, it would lead to its long term growth. Increasing competition in national, regional and global areas has led to more attention to competitive advantage as a key determinant of organization growth. To be successful in these circumstances, knowledge management and its procedures can be considered as a necessity. Knowledge management focuses on the knowledge usage to establish competitive advantage and form dynamics in a complex environment. Hence, current study aims to investigate the relationship between customer knowledge management and customer loyalty focusing on the mediating role of customer value by a case study conducted on Saderat Bank in Khozestan. Measurement items are adapted from existing scales found in the knowledge management and marketing literature. Academic colleagues reviewed the items for face validity and readability. The scales are evaluated for reliability using data collected in a survey of Saderat Bank’s customers. A structural equation modeling procedure is applied to the examination of the influences of customer knowledge management on customer value and customer loyalty. The research model was tested empirically using a sample of 500 customers who had referred to Saderat Bank’s agencies in Khozestan during the period of research. The paper found that the most influential dimensions of knowledge management on customer value are knowledge for customer, knowledge of customer, knowledge about customer, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of consistency between customer image and perceived value on customer loyalty was strong. Keywords: Customer knowledge management, Customer knowledge, Customer value, Customer loyalty