Technology Acceptance Model in U.S. Extension: CRM Adoption

QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM

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satisfaction. This research also suggests that CRM’s ability to reach the right customer at the

right time with the right message helps attain a competitive advantage in a crowded market.

Bhat and Darzi (2016) examined the competitive advantage in the banking sector by

exploring the role of loyalty in CRM. The study points out that CRM technologies have enabled

organizations to know customers well enough before developing a relationship and that

improved relationships with customers can lead to great customer loyalty and retention,

providing a better competitive advantage over others (Bhat & Darzi, 2016). This study

investigated the relationship between complaint resolution, customer knowledge, empowerment,

and orientation toward customer loyalty. Additionally, the study hypothesized that customer

loyalty mediates the relationship between CRM and competitive advantage. In the study of a

private-sector bank in India, random sampling techniques were applied for a questionnaire to 278

respondents. The questionnaire was based on 31 questions representing four dimensions of

CRM, including complaint resolution, customer knowledge, customer orientation, and customer

empowerment. The findings suggest that complaint resolution has a significant positive impact

on customer loyalty and that customer knowledge has a considerable positive impact on loyalty.

Additionally, customer empowerment leads to loyalty when customers are encouraged to give

suggestions to the company regarding service failures. Finally, the study found that customer

loyalty acts as a mediator between CRM and competitive market advantage and documents the

direct relationship between CRM and competitive advantage throughout the literature. The study

also notes that if the bank fails to maintain CRM with customers, it is likely to have a negative

impact on the strength of customer relationships and the potential for transforming valuable

customers into hostile customers.

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