The impact of social ties on customer loyalty: Mediating effects of satisfaction and moderating commitment

Social bonding tactics help companies and their customers develop friendships by focusing, maintaining relationships, and interacting personally. This study was conducted to determine whether consumer satisfaction is an effective mediator in the relationship between trust, brand image and social ties to consumer loyalty, as well as the evaluation of consumer commitment as a moderator variable at BNI Bank in Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Purposive sampling was used to select 152 respondents who had to be adults at least 17 years old and customers who had been with the company for at least six months. Questionnaires were distributed based on the number of responders in order to gather primary data. Sixty-nine clients (45.4%) were female, while 83 customers (54.6%) were male. The data were then examined using structural equation modelling. The findings show how social connections, brand perception, and trust affect customer satisfaction. Additionally, the results demonstrate that commitment positively moderates the effect of satisfaction on customer loyalty, which is influenced by social relationships at 0.137 with a p-value of 0.008 and customer satisfaction at 0.117 with a p-value of 0.043. It makes sense that commitment positively moderates the effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and that customer satisfaction is a useful intervening variable. This demonstrates how raising customer commitment, brand image, social connections, consumer trust, and contentment may all result in increased levels of loyalty. Developing stronger social ties will lead to more loyal, satisfied, and repeat business from customers.