CORNELL HOSPITALITY QUARTERLY

Fifteen years of research on customer loyalty formation: A meta-analytic structural equation model

So, Kevin Kam Fung; Yang, Yang; Li, Xiang (Robert)

Abstract

Despite extensive research on loyalty formation, findings regarding interrelationships between loyalty and its key drivers, such as perceived service quality, perceived value, and customer satisfaction, are inconclusive and often contradictory. To provide more definitive statements about these relationships, we synthesized and analyzed findings from 153 articles published in eight top-tier tourism and hospitality journals between 2006 and 2020 using meta-analytic structural equation modeling. We also confirmed that five- and seven-point Likert-type scales did not generate significant differences in the effect size of correlational measures. A further comparison of four theoretically postulated competing models strongly supports the full mediation model. Our results suggest that customer satisfaction fully mediates the effects of perceived service quality and perceived value on customer loyalty, whereas perceived service quality directly influences perceived value. This study contributes to the literature by reconciling and synthesizing inconclusive findings from prior research.

Keywords

customer loyalty; customer satisfaction; perceived value; perceived quality; meta-analytic structural equation modeling; measurement scales

Research topic

Tourist Experience

Research method

Meta-analysis

Geographic area

Global

AI Audio Overview

AI Infographic

Extra Information

Extended MASEM Analysis Tool from SO, YANG AND LI (2025) [link]

Additional links for this paper

ResearchGate

Publisher Website

Web of Science

HOW TO CITE

So, K. K. F., Yang, Y., & Li, X. (2025). Fifteen years of research on customer loyalty formation: A meta-analytic structural equation model. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 66 (2), 253–272.

Additional Reads

2026

Comparative Advantage

Theories and Models in Tourism and Hospitality Research

2026

Customer gratitude and employee work behaviors

TOURISM MANAGEMENT

2026

Together through thick and thin: How does the survival of neighboring restaurants matter?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT