The Role of Trust and Word of Mouth as Mediating Variables in Building Customer Loyalty

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of customer relationship marketing on trust, word of mouth, and customer loyalty. It also sought to analyze the role of customer trust and word of mouth in mediating the influence of customer relationship marketing on customer loyalty at the Kenangan Coffee Shop in Malang City. The sample consisted of 140 customers of the Kenangan Coffee Shop in Malang City. Stratified random sampling was used to identify respondents. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data. The research results show that customer relationship marketing that focused on developing a service culture built customer trust at Kenangan Coffee Shop in Malang City. High levels of trust has the increases customer loyalty. By convincing others to choose a Kenangan Coffee Shop, word of mouth can also increase customer loyalty. Thus, this research further develops studies on customer loyalty, customer relationship marketing, and word of mouth. Keywords: customer relationship, trust, word of mouth, customer loyalty