The Mediating Role of Customer Commitment in the Relationship Between Customer-Company Fit and Customer Voice: An Empirical Study on Restaurant Customers

Objective: This study discusses value congruence (person-organization fit) and voice behaviors, which are frequently discussed in the field of organizational behavior, in the context of marketing. The study aims to examine the effect of customer-company fit (CC fit) on customer voice behavior as well as the role that customer commitment plays in this effect. Design/methodology: Research data was obtained from 390 restaurant customers in a province in Turkey through the convenience sampling method using the survey technique. The SmartPLS program (PLS-SEM) was used to conduct the analyses. The research model was analysed using partial least squares path analysis (PLS-SEM) and bootstrapping (5,000 bootstrap samples). Findings: The findings indicate that CC fit directly affects both customer commitment and customer voice behavior. Furthermore, the findings revealed that customer commitment plays a mediating role CC fit’s effect on customer voice behavior. Theoretical and Practical implications: The present study is the first in the literature to discuss the various relationships between these variables (CC fit, customer commitment and customer voice) together. Another distinctive feature of the study is that the sample consists of restaurant customers. The high-contact nature of restaurant service makes service failures inevitable. For this reason, it is much more important to reveal customer voice behaviors in restaurant services than in other sectors. In this respect, the results of the study may provide guiding information to the sector.