Effect of Customer to Customer Interactions on Satisfaction, Loyalty and Word of Mouth Advertisements of Customers (Case Study of Semnan Traveling and Tourism Agencies)

Subject Areas : policy making

N. Imankhan ¹ , S. Eekani ² , M. Fakharyan ³

1 - Assistant Professor in Management, Islamic Azad University, Firouzkouh Branch, Firouzkouh, Iran(Corresponding Author),
2 - Faculty Member in Management, Islamic Azad University, Chaloos Branch, Chaloos, Iran,
3 - Young Researchers Club, Islamic Azad University, Firouzkouh Branch, Firouzkouh, Iran,

Received: 2015-10-13 Accepted : 2015-10-13 Published : 2014-01-01

Keywords: Satisfaction, structural equation modeling, Loyalty, Customer to Customer Interaction, Physical Atmosphere, Word of mouth,

Abstract :

Today, organizations continuously try to find the ways to gain loyal customers because of their advantages. Customer to customer interactions has attracted more attention among marketers in which customer-to-customer interactions has been known as one of the most important methods of creating loyal customers. The present paper seeks to propose a service model developed in traveling and tourism setting. It is an applicable and casual-comparative study in terms of objective and implementation, respectively. Statistical population contains the customers of traveling and tourism agencies in Semnan Province and the sample is estimated through 384 people using a random sampling plan. The data collected is analyzed by using t-test and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that there is a positive significant relationship between a) physical atmospherics and customer-to-customer interaction, b) customer to customer interaction and satisfaction, c) customer satisfaction and firm satisfaction, d) firm satisfaction and loyalty and firm word of mouth advertisements, and e) customer loyalty to firm loyalty. However, the relationship proposed between physical atmospherics and firm satisfaction is not confirmed. In addition to the hypothesis testing, the study provides managerial implications for increasing customer-to-customer interactions, managing word of mouth advertisements, and creating loyal customers for traveling and tourism agencies.