Enhancing knowledge and strategic planning of bank customer loyalty using fuzzy cognitive maps

Abstract

Understanding customer loyalty has been a growing concern for the services industry. In a context of increasing competitive pressures, such loyalty is seen as a key element in service companies’ success. Maintaining customer loyalty and identifying its underlying factors, however, are recognizably difficult to do. Grounded on the use of cognitive mapping techniques, this paper proposes a knowledge-based framework for the identification of the key determinants of customer loyalty, and the relationships among them. A step-by-step guide to the development of such a framework is presented, and illustrated through a practical application in the banking context. The resulting findings are supportive of the applicability of such methods for understanding customer loyalty, and the improvement of long-term relationships with customers. They are furthermore indicative of new ways in which knowledge can be incorporated into management activities to improve service outcomes. Some managerial implications of our contribution and avenues for future research are also reported.

Keywords:

• customer loyalty
• fuzzy cognitive mapping
• knowledge enhancement
• problem structuring
• service improvement

JEL Classification:

• C44
• G20
• M10

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fernando A. F. Ferreira

Fernando A. F. FERREIRA is Assistant Professor w/Aggregation and Vice-Dean for financial affairs at the ISCTE Business School of the University Institute of Lisbon, and Adjunct Research Professor at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics of the University of Memphis, TN, USA. He holds a PhD in Quantitative Methods Applied to Economics and Management from the University of Algarve, Portugal. Some of his articles are published by ISI-listed journals such as Journal of the Operational Research Society, Journal of Business Research, Management Decision, and International Journal of Strategic Property Management. He has practical experience as group facilitator and his research interests include multiple criteria decision analysis, fuzzy logics and integrated systems for performance measurement.

João J. M. Ferreira

João J. M. FERREIRA is Associate Professor at the University of Beira Interior, and Scientific Coordinator of the NECE Research Unit, Portugal. He holds a PhD in Management and his research interests include: strategy, competitiveness and entrepreneurship. He is editor, editorial board member and reviewer of several international journals. He has published extensively in a variety of leading journals.

Cristina I. M. A. S. Fernandes

Cristina I. M. A. S. FERNANDES is Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco and researcher at the NECE Research Unit, Portugal. She holds a PhD in Management from the University of Beira Interior. She has published in a variety of leading journals and her research interests include: technology entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship, knowledge services, innovation and regional competitiveness.

Ieva Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė

Ieva MEIDUTĖ-KAVALIAUSKIENĖ is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business Management of the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania. She holds a PhD in Technological Science from the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. She has authored peer-reviewed papers and some of her works have been presented and published nationally and internationally. She is editorial board member of several international journals and her research interests include decision analysis and operations management.

Marjan S. Jalali

Marjan S. JALALI is Assistant Professor at the ISCTE Business School of the University Institute of Lisbon, and researcher at the Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Portugal. She holds a PhD in Management from the University of Sydney, Australia. She is editorial board member of the Global Business and Economics Review, managing editor of the International Journal of Management Science and Information Technology, and some of her works have been published nationally and internationally. Her research interests include multiple criteria decision analysis, strategic decision making and consumer behavior.