Influence of Philanthropic Corporate Social Responsibility on Customers' Loyalty: Mediation Role of Customers' Gratitude

Research works investigating the mediation of customer gratitude on the influence of philanthropic corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty in the banking context in northeast Nigeria, are limited. Hence, this paper tested the mediating role of customer gratitude on the relationship between philanthropic corporate social responsibility (PCSR) and customer loyalty in the retail banking industry of Nigeria. Cross-sectional research design was used, data were collected from a sample of 430 individual customers of the Nigerian retail banks, and hypotheses were tested using linear regression and Sobel test. The results revealed a significant positive influence of PCSR on customers' loyalty, and also partial mediation of customer gratitude on the relations between PCSR and customers' loyalty was observed. The study concluded that customer gratitude mediated the dynamics between PCSR and customer loyalty among the surveyed retail banks. It is therefore recommended that managers of Nigerian retail banks should enthrone PCSR activities in their operation in order to generate feelings of gratitude in customers with a view to establishing lasting customer loyalty.