The impact of preference and engagement on loyalty within an organisation-led social advocacy program: a cross-organisational comparison

This study examined the impact of customer/member preference for social issues on their loyalty intentions, and whether engagement mediates this relationship within the context of a firm-led social advocacy strategy. A social issue typology was developed via the literature, utilised in the empirical investigation, and analysed to help inform future priorities for organisations.

The research sample included three different organisation types: a not-for-profit membership organisation offering motoring and travel-related products and services (herein referred to as the membership organisation); a for-profit telecommunications company (referred to as the for-profit company); and a not-for-profit health-focused peak body (referred to as the peak body organisation). These types allowed generalisations to be explored with regards to issue preference and also the role of engagement as a mediator.

Using a relevancy/scope typology framework developed from the literature, and Best-Worst Scaling design to eliminate potential and known biases, issues relevant to the organisation/company were found to have the strongest positive preference across all three organisation types. This is an important empirical finding based on evaluation of members/customers. Significant organisational differences were also identified, as positive preference was found across both local and global relevant issues for the for-profit organisation.

Structural equation models were estimated to assess the role of engagement on social issue preference and loyalty. In all studies the role of engagement was significant. For the membership organisation, using Baron and Kenny’s (1986) definition for mediation, a partial mediation was found for the mediating relationship of engagement on issue preference and loyalty. The model developed explained 45% of the variance in member loyalty, providing clear evidence that these constructs are important. The direct relationship for this organisation was the strongest of the three (R² = 0.20) suggesting that the type of issue is also important for this type of organisation.

Alternatively for the for-profit company, a full mediation effect was achieved, as there was no direct effect between preference and loyalty. There was a positive, direct effect between preference and engagement, and engagement and loyalty, explaining 43% of the variance. To add further weight to the model, a number of antecedents to loyalty were tested, and while significant, none were as strong as engagement into loyalty (β = 0.60, p<0.01).

A full mediation was also achieved for the peak body (R² = 0.40). The model was expanded further, identifying “helping behaviour” (β = 0.31, p<0.01) and “participation” (β = 0.17, p<0.01) as antecedents to engagement, although not as strong as social issue preference into engagement (β = 0.48, p<0.01). In a peak body context, both issue via engagement, and engagement, drive member loyalty. It was also found that “trust/image” (β = 0.40, p<0.01) is an antecedent to loyalty, but not as strong as engagement. Affective commitment was found to be a significant outcome of engagement. Overall, the research reveals the merits of directing investment in socially focused strategies towards issues which are aligned with the focus of the organisation. It also highlights the important role of engagement in an advocacy strategy, particularly when looking to achieve firm-related benefits such as loyalty.