The importance of customer citizenship behaviour in the modern retail environment: Introducing and testing a social exchange model

Abstract

In the modern retail environment, customers continuously rely on other consumers for assistance when interacting with retailers’ digital technologies. This study examined if technology acceptance drives affective commitment and ultimately existing users to assist potential users, as measured by direct customer citizenship behaviour (advocacy, help in using the technology) and indirect customer citizenship behaviour (tolerance and feedback to the retailer for improvement). The sample consisted of 533 electronic banking customers. All research hypotheses were supported. Practically, the research findings direct retailers on the strategies required to ensure customers engage in direct and indirect citizenship behaviour to assist fellow customers in interacting with the digital technologies, and to improve the customer retail experience. Theoretically, the study extends the extant research on technology acceptance by providing more insight into its connection with customer citizenship behaviour directed towards fellow customers and retailers in the post-consumption stage of digital technology and the extent to which affective commitment strengthens these relationships.