The mediating effect of satisfaction: Does is influences loyalty concerning online tourism purchases?

Abstract

This paper intends to investigate the influence of relationship marketing dimensions on online tourism customer satisfaction and to analyze the mediating effect of e-satisfaction level, on the relation between these determinants and the formation of loyalty. A questionnaire was applied to regular online buyers and the statistical analyses were conducted within the Structural Equation Modeling framework. The most important results have shown that there are three dimensions that significantly influence e-customer satisfaction – understanding customer needs, service quality and personalization. Also show that there is a complete mediating effect of ecustomer satisfaction in the relationship between the relationship marketing dimensions and e-customer loyalty. Thus, research results provide an important insight into how e-companies can pursuit and use delight to highlight customers