The impact of corporate sustainable management activities on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the shipping sector

Abstract

The topic of corporate sustainability has been gaining popularity among many management researchers as it grows in importance to the commercial world. Innovation, strategy and management control are various fields where the issue of corporate sustainability has been previously studied. In this paper, the impact that Corporate Sustainability Management Activities (CSMA) has on Customer Satisfaction (CS) and Customer Loyalty (CL) in the dry bulk sector was studied in greater detail. CSMA consist of three dimensions - Economic, Environmental and Social. A comprehensive literature review was done on CSMA, CS and CL and a model illustrating the relationship between the three constructs in the dry bulk sector was drawn up. To test the accuracy of the model, three hypotheses were developed and tested against the sample data collected. The three hypotheses are:H1: CSMA have a positive impact on CS in the dry bulk shipping sector H2: CS has a positive impact on CL in the dry bulk shipping sector H3: CSMA have a positive impact on CL in the dry bulk shipping sector Data were collected from interviews with shipping companies and surveys from their customers. Data from the interviews were analysed qualitatively while data from the survey were analysed quantitatively using bivariate regression analysis. Based on findings from both the interviews and survey, it was found out that CSMA do not have a positive impact on CS in the dry bulk sector. The same is true for the impact of CS on CL. However, data obtained from the research was sufficient to show that there is a positive impact of CSMA on CL in the dry bulk sector. Hence, hypotheses H1 and H2 were rejected, but H3 was accepted. Comparisons were also made across the three shipping sectors – wet bulk, dry bulk and container. In contrast with the dry bulk sector, all three hypotheses were accepted for both the wet bulk and container sectors. This research has succeeded in making preliminary investigations into the impact that CSMA has on CS and CL in the shipping sector. However, due to insufficient survey responses, the results of the study should be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, the results obtained were first of its kind, and the framework in this research could serve as a reference for future studies, with greater emphasis placed on qualitatively analysis rather than quantitative analysis.