Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty of Deposit Money Banks: A Post Covid-19 Pandemic Survey in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined relationship marketing and customer loyalty of deposit money banks: A post-COVID-19 pandemic survey in Calabar, Nigeria. It was carried out to determine the effects of building trust, customer care, customer communication and customer commitment on customer loyalty to deposit money banks in Calabar after the pandemic. Cross-sectional survey research design was used for the study. Judgmental sampling technique was applied and primary data were obtained from 248 deposit money banks’ customers in Calabar using a structured questionnaire. Content validity method was applied to validate the structured questionnaire, while Cronbach’s alpha method was adopted to confirm the instrument’s reliability. Data obtain from the study were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The findings of the study revealed that building trust, customer care, customer communication and customer commitment had significant positive effects on customer loyalty of deposit money banks after the COVID-19 pandemic in Calabar. The study recommended that deposit money banks should consistently strive to boost customers’ confidence in their ability to deliver satisfactory banking services amidst disruptive pandemics like COVID-19 by using technology and human efforts to strengthen service quality delivery; deposit money banks should deploy customer-friendly technologies to deliver customer care services.