The Role of Consumer Relationship Management in the Albanian Tourism Industry: A Structural Equation Model Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of Customer Relationship Management on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the Albanian Tourism Industry. Despite the fact that CRM positive influence on customer satisfaction is widely accepted as a rule of thumb, very little research has been done to further investigate on such a theory. Hence, the study tries to find out if an effective Customer Relationship Management strategy indeed influences customer satisfaction and loyalty. The empirical research attempts to unveil the relationship between Customer Relationship Management Effectiveness, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty by analyzing five CRM attributes, namely; Organizational commitment, Customer experience, Process-driven approach, Reliability and Technology Orientation. Results show that not all CRM features influence ore equally influence customer satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, it proves that customer satisfaction is indeed a strong mediator of customer loyalty. Based on the results of the study, only organizational commitment, customer experience, process-driven approach and reliability influence customer satisfaction while only reliability positively influences customer loyalty. The hypotheses are tested using information collected from customers through structural equation model approach. The empirical results of this study have academic and managerial implications since they add to the existing body of knowledge and at the same time help CRM managers in the decision making process.