The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0959-6119.htm
IJCHM
35,3
992
Received 4 April 2022
Revised 2 July 2022
27 August 2022
Accepted 4 September 2022
International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality
Management
Vol. 35 No. 3, 2023
pp. 992-1009
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0959-6119
DOI 10.1108/IJCHM-04-2022-0428
Social CRM: linking the dots of
customer service and customer
loyalty during COVID-19 in the
hotel industry
Anam Afaq and Loveleen Gaur
Amity International Business School, Amity University, Noida, India, and
Gurmeet Singh
School of Business and Management, The University of the South Pacific,
Suva, Fiji
Abstract
Purpose – Social customer relationship management (SCRM) is an evolving strategy gaining prominence in
the hotel industry by cultivating new, improved relationships through engaging customers on social media (SM)
platforms. Accordingly, this study aims to assess the effect of SCRM on customer service and customer loyalty
(CL) in the hotel industry. This study also explores the moderating effect of COVID-19 (EC) on the relationship
between (customer engagement [CE] and improved customer service [ICS]) and (CE and trust [TR]).
Design/methodology/approach – This study develops and tests the SCRM model using structural
equation modelling on a sample size of 214 responses. The questionnaire was administered online to the
customers of five preselected global hotel chains. The criteria for selecting the participants were that they
must have tweeted from their Twitter handle by using # (hashtag) hotel name to resolve any customer service
issues.
Findings – Results denote that CE significantly impacts ICS. CE was also found to exert a substantial effect
on TR. The moderating EC was also found to be significant, but the effect was weak. Although the customers
were extensively impacted by the pandemic and were initially hesitant to visit hotels, SCRM proved to be a
powerful tool to gain back customer trust (CT) and develop CL by upsurging the shadows of COVID-19.
Practical implications – This study suggests that viable enforcement of the SCRM system can assist in
real-time monitoring and tracking of customers’ activities. This can develop a more profound connection with
customers through CE which can boost the co-innovation process.
Originality/value – This study denotes a pioneer attempt to investigate the relationships between SCRM,
CE, CT, ICS, CL and COVID-19 in the same framework in a SM context.
Keywords Social CRM, Customer loyalty, Trust, Hotel industry, COVID-19, Customer engagement
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Customer relationship management (CRM) is metamorphosing into social CRM (SCRM) in
the form of an emerging approach that caters to the needs of modern business, which aims
to enrich customer experiences using new-age technology like social media (SM). This new
dimension of CRM, popularly known as SCRM, comprises customer-centric activities like
processes and technologies, with growing SM apps to procure users in shared conversations
and enrich customer relationships.
According to Greenberg (2010), the transformation of CRM into SCRM began in 2008
with the growing trend in SM communications. This rise of SM communications and its
effect on consumer behaviour has revolutionised CRM practices for the hotel industry. SM is Social CRM
revamping the manner of interactions between customers and companies. Moreover, the
journey from transactional bonding with customers to interactive bonding requires a new
dimension for CRM. Furthermore, particularly with the outbreak of COVID-19, the hotel
industry faced immense challenges that forced them to re-organise their marketing
strategies to win guests’ trust (TR) in the hotel’s safety services. However, there is a scarcity
of literature that studied how SCRM assisted in regaining customers’ TR during and post-
COVID-19 crisis.
993
The most crucial aspect of SCRM is its customer engagement (CE) benefits that help
develop customer trust (CT) (Li et al., 2020). Most hotels use traditional promotional
techniques to build loyalty, like redeemable points and coupons (Dewnarain et al., 2019).
However, these loyalty programs and sales promotion strategies do not always give desired
outcomes in the long run, as price reductions by competitors can easily make them switch
brands. Furthermore, many CRM strategies failed in the past because customer data was
only used for sending promotional messages (Dewnarain et al., 2019).
Nonetheless, effective CE can cultivate TR in the hotel’s services even during crises
encouraging their purchase and repurchase intentions (Afaq et al., 2022). Loyalty brings in
brand evangelists who get emotionally connected with brands, are not price-sensitive and
can even pay more because of the TR and relationship developed from previous interactions.
Furthermore, after the outbreak of COVID-19, uncertainties and panic among customers can
be reduced with the effective implementation of SCRM. As SCRM tools can monitor and
track all the positive and negative conversations regarding the hotel on all SM platforms
and can help engage the customers individually and bring back their confidence in the
hotel’s services. By addressing all the minute customer service issues through spontaneous
customer interactions, the customers are assured that hotels are listening to their problems
and concerns. Nonetheless, SCRM only adds the missing SM dimension to the conventional
CRM system. Figure 1 depicts the integration of SM channels into traditional CRM systems.
SCRM is becoming a trending topic globally in the hotel industry. Customers increasingly
use online review sites like Tripadvisor, MakeMyTrip, etc. Hotels have started to analyse the
growing importance of these review sites and foresee the relevance of monitoring social
interactions (Gaur et al., 2021a). However, certain areas are not studied extensively in the
literature.
Firstly, CE has not attained much recognition in the hotel industry. Secondly, there are
minimal studies on SCRM in the hotel industry, particularly in India. Thirdly, the empirical
validation of the interrelationships between SCRM, CE, CT, improved customer service (ICS)
and loyalty in coexistence with COVID-19 challenges has not attained the desired intent.
Many studies do not fully support the direct impact of CE on customer loyalty (CL), so the
relationship between these two variables is unclear, particularly in the SM setting (Li et al.,
2020). Therefore, exploring the other variables that elucidate this relationship is important.
Furthermore, although previous studies have studied the impact of SCRM on CE,
behavioural outcomes like CT and ICS in a SM setting have not been adequately studied.
This study aims to fill these vital gaps and answer the following research questions:

RQ1. What is the effect of social CRM on customer service and customer loyalty in the
hotel industry?
RQ2. What effect does COVID-19 have on improved customer service and customer
loyalty?
RQ3. What is the effect of COVID-19 on customer trust and loyalty?
IJCHM
35,3

994

Figure 1.
Gap identification

In light of the research questions, this study proposes checking the impact of SCRM on CE
and ICS and loyalty. This study contributes in several ways. Firstly, this is the first
quantitative study that depicts precisely in uncertain pandemic times how SCRM helps
retain existing customers and develop a sense of loyalty, particularly in the Indian context.
Secondly, the study depicts an integrated framework and explores the relationship between
various significant constructs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirdly, this is the first
empirical study that significantly determines the relevance of SCRM for building TR among
hotel guests during COVID-19. The subsequent sections discuss the literature review,
research methodology, study results, discussion, conclusion, limitations and future research
agenda.

2. Review of literature
2.1 Customer relationship management and relevant past studies in the hotel industry
Companies use CRM as a process for improving relationships with customers. Companies
use strategies and technologies for analysing customer interactions throughout the customer
lifecycle. CRM aims at acquiring, retaining and increasing its customer base. However, its
main aim is to increase CL. As per previous studies, CRM is broadly classified into four
categories. First is strategic CRM, which aims to collect customer information and market
trends to improve its customers’ propositions. Second is operational CRM, which focuses on
business processes. It includes sales force automation, service automation and marketing
automation. Third is analytical CRM, which aims to collect, store and capture customer data.
Fourth is collaborative CRM, which manages information from different channels like email,
fax, Web and phone (Dewnarain et al., 2019). The literature on CRM highlights many studies
that emphasise the importance of managing customer relationships to sustain long-term
association with customers. Therefore, the below-mentioned studies are presented from past
CRM studies in the hotel industry.
The research by Denizci Guillet and Shi (2019) investigated the extent to which Hong
Kong hotels have merged their CRM and revenue management systems. The findings
revealed that integrating revenue management systems and CRM can improve customer Social CRM
relationships. Another study by Sofi et al. (2020) identified the role of CRM dimensions like
customer disposition and CRM-based techniques on guest satisfaction in hotels in Kashmir
using regression analysis. The findings depicted a positive outcome of CRM dimensions on
guest satisfaction. The results confirmed technology is an essential aspect of meeting
customer expectations. Khan et al. (2022) investigated how CRM and the firm’s reputation
can assist in developing CL in firms in Pakistan. The findings presented that a company’s 995
reputation and CRM can influence CL, and employees’ encouragement and involvement
play a huge role in gaining customers’ TR.

2.2 Social customer relationship management strategies and practices

SCRM, as a novel dimension, is crucial for companies due to its value co-creation setup.
Dewnarain et al. (2019) stated that apart from considering SM as a critical promoter of SCRM,
it is also imperative to consider that SCRM is not only confined to technology adoption.
Instead, it is a novel mindset that believes the customers are value co-creators and need
customer-generated information (insights and reviews) for value co-creation. Therefore,
SCRM can be an anticipative marketing approach that assists companies in transforming
their traditional ways of managing customer relationships by converting from a push and
controlled practice to a pull and cumulative approach. SCRM highlights the aspect of CE,
which is a powerful path to forming a collaborative relationship.
Furthermore, the literature on SCRM reveals many more vital elements of the importance
of SCRM for companies. The term SCRM came into existence in 2008, and since its inception,
different studies have depicted various aspects of SCRM. However, the most widely
accepted definition is by Greenberg (2009). It states SCRM to be a philosophy and a strategy
assisted by a technological platform, business guidelines, process and social interactions directed
towards CE in a collaborative conversational environment for providing interchangeably
favourable value in a transparent and trusted business province.
SCRM incorporates the CRM’s significant customer-facing activities, from functional
domains to back-end information technology and SM, particularly to manage customer
relationships. Therefore, SCRM is an effective business strategy that incorporates both CRM
and SM. As a strategy, its two most essential elements are social listening and social
engagement. These two elements assist in knowing customers’ needs, preferences, wants
and experiences, which can help the companies understand the customers’ grievances and
expectations and help provide ICS. Hoteliers can easily know with the application of SCRM
tools what is working effectively for their hotels. For instance, some basic metrics for
keeping track of SM are: knowing the total number of followers, engagement level, overall
website traffic, conversions from SM, brand mentions, post shares and new followers.
Sigala (2018) suggested five practices for effectively implementing SCRM in the hotel and
tourism sectors. First is collecting meaningful and real-time customer insights from user-
generated content (UGC). The UGC can assist in transforming CRM from a transactional
dimension to a social dimension. Second is monitoring the performance of CRM. Analysing
the UGC can enhance CRM practices by understanding the factors that lead to customer
satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Big data monitoring provides a base to redesign the CRM
and loyalty programs per changing customer preferences. Third, is to offer personalised
services. Humanising and personalising are compelling aspects of incorporating technology
concerning the integrated customer base. Fourth is, nurturing community relationships,
wherein customer communities are a doorway to CE. Community relationship practices
align with SCRM’s co-creation approach.
IJCHM Fifthly, gamifying CRM and loyalty programs, a technique wherein customers are
35,3 engaged using gamified marketing practices to direct their attention towards engaging
marketing content. For instance, Marriot International excessively used this technique to
improve CE. They started an online campaign where the loyalty program members of
Marriot were invited to link their SM profiles with the Marriot Reward account and were
encouraged to share their posts and pictures, tagging Marriot. It helped Marriot provide
996 engaging content and activities for customers, resulting in individuals retweeting Marriot’s
tweets and sharing the hotel’s posts (Sigala, 2018). As per the above literature review, it is
possible to conclude that SCRM offers various strategies and practical tools that can provide
different approaches and tools for gathering and analysing relevant customer data that can
provide meaningful information to the companies.

2.3 Relationship marketing theory

The theoretical foundation of this study is based on relationship marketing (RM) theory. RM
theory belongs to the family of service marketing theories and has attained substantial
attention from academicians and practitioners (Arora et al., 2021). As per Dewnarain et al.,
2019, RM is a holistic approach to improving relationships by listening to the customers and
providing improved services according to their requirements. Salem (2021) stated that RM is
a mechanism that establishes connections with customers to build quality relationships and
retain them.
Furthermore, Thaichon et al. (2020) stipulated many cornerstones of RM theory:
customer satisfaction, TR and commitment, less marketing costs, customer value, handling
conflicts, CE, CL and competence. As per previous research, technology is considered an
essential aspect of the growth of the RM concept (Arora et al., 2021). The current study
revolves around the concept of SCRM, which addresses online relationship quality. Online
relationship quality has transformed customers from passive receivers of online content to
diligent value co-creators. Accordingly, RM theory is used as a theoretical base as it
facilitates the relevance of online interactions for establishing customer relationships. The
RM theory assisted in providing the background for the empirical research.

3. Conceptual model and hypothesis development

3.1 Social customer relationship management
Increased customer participation in the SCRM domain requires increased CE. The company
can add new contact points to increase engagement to encourage customer participation
(Arora et al., 2021). This can include sharing engaging content with customers through SM,
paying attention to the consumer and replying appropriately. Therefore, SCRM can facilitate
CE. Another example of using SCRM to enhance CE is stated by Harrigan et al. (2020).
According to the author, numerous businesses have already started reaping the payback of
using SCRM for CE. As businesses’ and customers’ engagement on SM increases, it
improves customer perceptions. Starbucks Coffee, for example, was an early adopter of
SCRM, which helped it improve CE by adopting different SCRM strategies. They launched
their website, which facilitates CE by inviting customers to submit their ideas to enhance
their coffee experience (Harrigan et al., 2020):

H1. The use of Social CRM positively affects customer engagement processes in the
hotel industry.
3.2 Customer engagement and improved customer service Social CRM
The current digital environment considers online CE critical for resolving customer issues
(Colmekcioglu et al., 2022). Listening and engaging on SM platforms allows hoteliers to
identify customer expectations and customer service issues. As CE actively involves
customer tracking, the hotels can use these insights about the customers from all SM
channels for better targeting by offering better customer services (Islam and Rahman, 2016).
CE assists in streamlining conversations from multiple channels using SM analytics and
provides a holistic view of customer activities. For example, the airline KLM uses real-time
997
engagement to provide prompt customer services effectively (Buhalis and Sinarta, 2019).
Furthermore, customers expect instant gratification through proactive customer service.
Differentiation strategies and low pricing can be irrelevant to customers if companies fail to
deliver real-time customer services (Davari et al., 2022).
The Forbes report stated that customers who are satisfied with a company’s swift
responses on SM recommend the services to friends and relatives on SM (Hyken, 2016). For
example, Marriot hotels have their real-time monitoring services named MLive, which offers
real-time CE for providing instant customer services with personalised experiences. Buhalis
and Sinarta (2019) stated a case in their article that unveils the effectiveness of MLive CE for
offering ICS. A traveller inquired about a good hotel stay for a weekend in Nashville. The
traveller did not tag any hotel; however, Marriots MLive noticed it and promptly advised the
hotel along with information regarding the local nightlife. This promptness in CE in offering
desired customer service led the traveller to appreciate Marriot on Twitter for its
personalised services. Hence, it can be hypothesised that:

H2. Customer engagement will positively affect improved customer service in the hotel
industry.

3.3 Customer engagement and trust

A primary task for marketing practitioners is to reduce customers’ uncertainties and assure
them to TR the brand. CE plays a vital role in the hotel industry to minimise this
uncertainty, encouraging bonding between companies and customers. Sashi et al. (2019)
stated that developing TR through CE gives way to long-term relationships in emerging
markets that can help a company secure a leading position. Social exchange theory also
confirms that customers tend to form relationships more in the companies they interact with
and TR (Li et al., 2020).
In online settings, customers’ TR is crucial for businesses to grow, and online CE, in the
form of positive conversations with customers, can instil TR and confidence in relationship
exchange (Thaichon et al., 2020). More recently, there has been a conceptual acceptance
among researchers that engaged customers in an online setting can show more positive
relationship-building signals with the appearance of enhanced TR, commitment and
satisfaction (Sashi et al., 2019). This study also proclaims that when hotels actively engage
with customers in real-time, it helps establish a high level of TR as CE gives way to brand
attachment which is a crucial factor in achieving guests’ TR (Li et al., 2020):

H3. Customer engagement will positively affect customer trust in the hotel industry.

3.4 Improved customer service and customer loyalty

CL is a primary goal of businesses. A loyal customer will always be interested in spending
more and with confidence. Therefore, these customers easily connect and quickly convert to
IJCHM brand ambassadors (Guan et al., 2021). The sudden increase in the use of different online
35,3 communication channels has allowed customers to become vocal and discuss their issues on
open platforms. Also, businesses can now develop a long-term association with customers by
addressing their complaints and queries and giving them a highly interactive, personalised
experience (Afaq et al., 2021). The trend of CL is rapidly gaining popularity in hypercompetitive
sectors like hotels (Li et al., 2020). As per Latif (2021), the value derived by customers in the
998 form of effective customer services develops customer relationships.
Recent research on CL stated that loyalty is a profound obligation on customers to
repeatedly buy products from the same brand and avoid switching to other brands. As
stated by Sota et al. (2020), the significance of CL in the hotel industry started to boom after
2010, and there was a maximum number of publications on the role and importance of
technology adoption in CRM systems and customer service for providing CL in the era from
2011 to 2018. Therefore, it can be hypothesised that:

H4. Improved customer service will positively affect customer loyalty in the hotel
industry.

3.5 Trust and customer loyalty

TR is a crucial construct for service providers to win their customers. TR has been reported
as a prerequisite for forming and fostering long-term associations between the firm and its
customers in academic literature, particularly in service sectors (Hao and Chon, 2022).
Furthermore, Hasan et al. (2021) observed that firms aiming to gain loyalty must achieve CT
first. A similar fact is advocated by Kong et al. (2020), who state that CT is a gateway to CL.
The empirical literature on RM also significantly emphasises the construct of TR as one of
the critical mediators between corporate initiatives and CL (Iglesias et al., 2020).
Several hotel industry studies emphasise TR as the backbone of CL. As stated by Li et al.
(2020), previous studies have explored the link between TR and CL and found that
customers with a strong perspective of TR towards the brand tend to be more loyal. TR in
the hotel industry means that the guests believe the hotel can deliver all of its promises.
Shulga et al. (2021) stated that TR means that the hotel is concerned about customer needs
and will give attention to the same while serving the customer, resulting in achieving CL. As
a result, it is proposed that:

H5. Customer trust will positively affect customer loyalty in the hotel industry.

3.6 Effect of COVID-19 on customer engagement and improved customer service

Despite the catastrophic effect of COVID-19 (EC), which continues to affect the business
community around the entire globe, the hotel industry is trying to regain its footing. In the
COVID-19 business environment, hotel businesses must bring adequate changes to guarantee
a safe and healthy environment for their employees and customers. The pandemic times
have created a lot of uncertainty among these critical stakeholders. The service industry brings
people into close contact and may raise apprehensions of different kinds of customers and
employees (Huang and Liu, 2020). Due to the same reason, the professionals researching the
hotel and health-care domain tend to find solutions to the different kinds of physical, mental
and financial problems and develop industry solutions by offering better customer services
(Giousmpasoglou et al., 2021). Therefore, it can be said that the pandemic will affect the
customers’ minds about safety and personal hygiene and will act as a moderator in their
decision-making. Therefore, it is proposed that:
 H6. COVID-19 pandemic has a moderating effect on the relationship between customer Social CRM
engagement and improved customer service in the hotel industry.

3.7 Effect of COVID-19 on customer engagement and customer trust

The rise of COVID-19 cases worldwide accelerated the level of anxiety and shook guests’
TR in availing of the services. Dryhurst et al. (2020) conducted a study on the risk notions of 999
COVID-19 and identified that fear of catching the virus and risk perceptions are very high in
Asia and Europe. Tavitiyaman and Qu (2013) stated that tourists were reluctant to travel to
Thailand during SARS and the tsunami. These calamities had a moderating effect on
behavioural intentions and a lack of TR in any services offered to tourists. Jeong et al. (2022)
stated that a foodborne illness also impacts the intention of customers to visit hotels and
restaurants. Gaur et al. (2021a) stated the risk of COVID-19 is forcing customers to refrain
from eating outside for self-protection reasons. Despite their motivation and desire to visit
hotels, a lack of confidence in safe eating environments refrains them from visiting hotels
(Jiang and Wen, 2020). However, Wu et al. (2021) stated that SM could play an essential role
in user engagement during COVID-19, reducing people’s fear. Furthermore, a study by
Ahmad et al. (2021) identified that engagement on SM platforms during COVID-19 helped
Malaysian citizens overcome anxiety and distrust towards all services provided by the
country. Therefore, it is proposed that:

H7. The COVID-19 pandemic has a moderating effect on the relationship between
customer engagement and customer trust in the hotel industry.
Centred on the above discussion, our proposed model, as depicted in Figure 2, is as follows:

4. Research method
4.1 Measurement and data
The survey to test the theoretical constructs of the study was conducted all over India using
the SM platform Twitter. As per a report in Forbes, Twitter is regarded as a key customer
support channel where a maximum number of customers share their service experiences
(Hyken, 2016). As for this study, customer service is a necessary construct; therefore, we
selected Twitter so that we could target only those users who have used SM to deal with

Figure 2.
Proposed model
IJCHM customer service issues. Also, among all the channels, Twitter is considered the most
35,3 popular for dealing with customer service issues (Sashi et al., 2019).
For this study, a structured questionnaire was prepared that included the constructs
from past literature. The constructs of SCRM were adapted from Ramsaran-Fowdar and
Fowdar (2013) and that of CE from Rather and Sharma (2017). The ICS construct was
adapted from Weinberg and Berger (2011), whereas TR was acquainted from Morgan and
1000 Hunt (1994) and Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002). The constructs of CL were acquired from
Zeithaml et al. (1996) and Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002), and that of EC was adapted from Hu
et al. (2021). The structured questionnaire items were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale,
where digit 1 indicates negative sentiments and 5 indicates strong positive sentiments.
The questionnaire was thoroughly tested for face validity and approved by the domain
experts for content validity. A pre-test on this tool was conducted with a sample of
50 respondents using Cronbach’s alpha. All values achieved were above the threshold value
of 0.7, confirming that the scales were reliable and valid (Hair et al., 2010). The pre-test
responses were not included in the primary data collection mode to avoid skewing results.
Data with similar answers to all the questions and the ones with other such anomalies in the
data were removed before undertaking the analysis. The data were also checked for
skewness, kurtosis and multi-linearity using suitable statistical tests (the results are
mentioned in the next section).
The questionnaire was administered online in English to the customers of five
preselected global chain hotels and those who tweeted from their Twitter handle using the #
(hashtag) hotel name. The respondents include only those customers for the survey who
used SM platforms to resolve any customer issues. To get the user profiles, we adopted the
web scraping technique. We used the Twitter Advanced search option to extract the reviews
wherein the global chain hotels in India were tagged. Next, from this data, we extracted the
profiles of the users and sent the survey to them. We shared the questionnaire link, posted it
on Twitter, and requested them to participate in the data collection process by tagging their
usernames. The questionnaires were distributed to about 370 hotel users using convenience
sampling, resulting in 214 final responses. The reason for choosing this sampling method is
due to the lack of any reliable list of customers of the preselected global chains of hotel users
in India who use SM to resolve customer service issues. Because there are 18 constructs in
the questionnaire, the model needs to be tested with at least 200 respondents (Hair et al.,
2010). The unit of analysis for the study is the customers of the five-star global chain hotels
in India who use Twitter as a platform to get their customer service issues resolved.
The hypothesis testing of the proposed model was done using the structural equation
modelling (SEM) technique. The statistical software used was AMOS. A two-level method
was used to test the theoretical relationships. The measurement was first applied to all of the
model’s constructs, followed by the structural model. The normality (univariate) of the
variables was analysed with the help of the skewness–kurtosis test (Hair et al., 2010).
Furthermore, SPSS-17 was used to compute all of these values. All the calculated values are
within the permissible range. Table 1 below shows that the skewness results were less than
3, and kurtosis was less than 8 (Kline, 2015; West et al., 1995).

4.2 Results of study

4.2.1 Common method bias. Common method bias is the first important concern before
conducting the analysis of the study. To check the variance, we used Harman’s single-factor
test (Harman, 1976). The result suggested that the variance was negligible. The greatest
variance explained by a single factor was just 17.9% confirming the results. The same was
also verified by the marker-variable technique proposed by Malhotra et al. (2006), which also
 Mean Std. deviation Skewness Kurtosis
Social CRM
SCRM 1 3.84 0.86 0.22 0.05
SCRM 2 3.75 0.86 0.24 0.11
SCRM 3 3.74 0.86 0.56 0.39
CE 1 3.98 0.77 0.54 0.24
CE 2 3.93 0.80 0.46 0.42
CE 3 3.92 0.76 0.47 0.36 1001
ICS 1 4.25 0.84 0.60 0.48
ICS 2 3.85 0.84 0.31 0.30
ICS 3 4.23 0.80 0.36 0.09
TR 1 3.62 0.85 0.59 0.15
TR 2 3.22 0.90 0.26 0.05
TR 3 3.67 0.85 0.37 0.10
CL 1 3.30 0.96 0.87 0.02
CL 2 3.27 0.91 0.08 0.10
CL 3 3.65 0.92 0.43 0.10
EC 1 3.29 0.97 0.56 0.09
EC 2 3.05 0.82 0.37 0.37 Table 1.
EC 3 3.16 0.80 0.36 0.14 Data normality

suggested minor correlation variation when correlated for common method variance
(Lindell and Whitney, 2001).
4.2.2 Measurement model: confirmatory factor analysis. The proposed hypothesis is
tested using the SEM tool. Figure 1 shows relationships among different variables. The
theoretical relationships are tested in two stages by undertaking the measurement and
structural models (Schumacker and Lomax, 2010). The study constructs are adapted from
Harris and Goode (2004). Confirmatory factor analysis was used in the current study to
ascertain data reliability.
Data analysis was carried out using the variance–covariance matrices, with Table 2
showing the analysis results below. The table reflects that the standardised values are more
than 0.678, and the t-values indicate a level of significance of 0.001. Cronbach’s alpha,
average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) can be used to validate
construct reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity, respectively. According
to Hair et al. (2010), all Cronbach’s alpha values in Table 2 are significantly higher than the
0.07 (Peterson, 1994) threshold level, with CR numbers ranging from 0.682 to 0.948 (Hair
et al., 2010), indicating scale reliability. The fit index values in the case of the measurement
model were found to be within the thresholds: X2/df is found to be 3.811. Goodness-of-fit
index (GFI) value to be 0.932 and adjusted GFI (AGFI) was found to be 0.876, comparative fit
index (CFI) value was 0.941, normed fit index (NFI) was found to be 0.917, root mean square
residual (RMR) value was 0.046 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was
found to be 0.073, indicating a good fit between the collected data and the proposed
theoretical model.
The AVE values varied from 0.678 (CL) to 0.797 (ICS), all of which are greater than the
proposed cutoff of 0.05. In addition, all of the squared values of AVE reported in Table 3
are greater than the inter-correlation values for other equivalent constructs, depicting that
the measurement model possesses good discriminant validity (Belsley et al., 2005). The
researchers also investigated the multi-collinearity of the independent variables. The
variance expansion factor was less than 5.0 for all independent variables (SCRM, CE, ICS,
IJCHM Standardized Composite Average variance
35,3 Constructs Items Scale reference loadings reliability (CR) extracted (AVE)

SCRM SCRM 1 Ramsaran-Fowdar and Fowdar 0.73 0.86 0.74

(a = 0.87) SCRM 2 (2013) 0.74
SCRM 3 0.85
CE CE 1 Rather and Sharma (2017) 0.83 0.95 0.73
1002 (a = 0.95) CE 2 0.29
CE 3 0.88
ICS ICS 1 Weinberg and Berger (2011) 0.83 0.88 0.80
(a = 0.84) ICS 2 0.82
ICS 3 0.84
TR TR 1 Morgan and Hunt (1994), 0.88 0.87 0.77
(a = 0.90) TR 2 Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002) 0.83
TR 3 0.75
CL CL 1 Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002), 0.69 0.87 0.678
(a = 0.88) CL 2 Zeithaml et al. (1996) 0.81
Table 2. CL 3 0.72
Standardized EC EC 1 Hu et al. (2021) 0.74 0.79 0.76
loadings, CR and (a = 0.68) EC 2 0.74
AVE EC 3 0.63

TR, CL and EC). This indicates that the study has no significant multi-collinearity or
common method bias.
For model fitness, all necessary and prescribed fit indices are tested to ascertain the
fitness of the proposed model. Data cleaning and re-examining were considered to ensure a
good fit between the collected data and the proposed theoretical model. As an iterative
process using different criteria for achieving appropriate fitness, such as standardised factor
loadings and modification indices described by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), all final
values achieved were well under the threshold values.
4.2.3 Structural model and hypotheses testing. The results obtained in the case of the
structural model are pretty similar to the measurement model results used to depict
the model fitness for the hypothesised model. This indicates that the data is well-fitting to
the model. The following values were found to be within the thresholds: X2/df was found to
be 3.878, GFI was found to be 0.974, AGFI was found to be 0.846, CFI was found to be 0.956,
NFI value was found to be 0.927, RMR was found to be 0.076 and RMSEA value was found
to be 0.065. Furthermore, the path coefficient analysis results were used to determine the
significance of the model’s various causal relationships. The path analysis results are
presented in Table 4.

SCRM CE ICS TR CL EC

SCRM 0.73
CE 0.16*** 0.87
ICS 0.50*** 0.47*** 0.83
TR 0.55*** 0.38*** 0.57*** 0.83
CL 0.44*** 0.45*** 0.66*** 0.66*** 0.74
EC 0.62*** 0.23*** 0.46*** 0.57*** 0.35*** 0.77
Table 3.
Discriminant validity Note: Factor correlation matrix with squared roots of AVE on the diagonal; ***p < 0.001
Tables 4 and 5 delineate the analysis results showing that all the proposed causal Social CRM
relationships are significant and accepted. The relationships studied gave statistically
significant results, for instance, CE / SCRM (b = 0. 0.385, p < 0.001), ICS / CE (b = 0.615,
p < 0.001), TR / CE (b = 0.563, p < 0.001), CL / ICS (b = 0. 0.451, p < 0.001), CL / TR (b =
0.396, p < 0.001), proving the acceptance of all hypothesis. However, certain relationships have
a very strong effect on the proposed model. For instance, the most substantial relationship
between CE and ICS was found. This was followed by CE and TR, the b value of 0.563. The
next meaningful relationship was depicted between ICS and CL with a b value of 0.451. This 1003
was followed by the relationship between TR and CL. Similarly, the moderating effect studied
in the process was also found significant. Overall, the R2 of the model was found to be 76%,
highlighting the model’s significance.

5. Discussion and conclusion

5.1 Discussion
One of the sectors encountering the most noticeable EC is hotel and tourism (Yang et al.,
2020). However, during this phase of uncertainties, the hotel industry had SM as a
significant outlet to convince its customers about the safe practices undertaken by the hotels
to ensure their guests’ safety. For the hotel industry, it is considered that customers’ TR
towards the practices implemented by the hotel practitioners and spread through SM will
also outline consumer behaviour (Dedeo glu and Bo gan, 2021). Accordingly, this study
identifies the effect of SCRM on customer service and loyalty. The study also explored the
moderating EC on the relationship between CE and better customer service and between
consumer engagement and TR. Within the framework, in both cases of moderating EC, the
relationship was weak but significant.
The study results clearly state the positive effect of SCRM on CL, specifically in the hotel
industry. The study results are similar to what Gartner predicted in 2017, that 25% of
companies using CRM will have extended customer relationship centres, including SM and
other similar platforms. Moreover, the study findings depict that SCRM positively impacts
CE. This research aligns with the findings of Dewnarain et al. (2019) that CE is a vital
success factor for ICS and TR among customers. The pandemic forced individuals to stay
home and feared visiting hotels (Gaur et al., 2021b). However, SCRM can develop TR among
businesses by paying closer attention to their customers’ social behaviour (Chi, 2021). It is
observed in the current study that the emotionally worn-out individuals, due to COVID-19,
were apprehensive regarding the customer service effectiveness. However, SCRM came to
the forefront of TR for the customers in the hotel industry. Kwok et al. (2021) found similar
results that SM is an effective platform during a crisis. It can help the hotel industry give
assurance regarding ICS during a crisis. In the current study, CT is found to impact loyalty
positively. This implies that the information shared by different hotel brands on SM

Hypothesis Accepted /
Hypotheses Path Standardized effect Critical ratio Rejected

H1 CE / SCRM 0.39 10.59*** Accepted

H2 ICS / CE 0.62 16.86*** Accepted
H3 TR / CE 0.56 6.38*** Accepted
H4 CL / ICS 0.45 11.84*** Accepted
H5 CL / TR 0.40 5.64*** Accepted
Table 4.
Notes: *p < 0.001; **p < 0.001 and ***p < 0.001 Path coefficients
IJCHM Variable Standardised b t-statistic p-value
35,3
Step I: Main variables
ICS 0.37 7.14 0.00
TR 0.17 4.94 0.00
EC 0.29 8.22 0.00
Step II: Two-way interaction terms
1004 CE  EC 0.15 3.97 0.00
DR2 0.28 (p < 0.01)
DF 21.06 (p < 0.01)
Dependent variable: ICS
Step III: Two-way interaction terms
Table 5. CE  EC 0.073 2.12 0.035
Results of DR2 0.036 (p < 0.01)
moderating effect DF 29.873 (p < 0.01)
test Dependent variable: TR

develops TR among the guests, motivating their customers to share positive reviews about
the hotels and give recommendations to other customers, which leads to CL. Our study’s
findings further confirm that CE improves customer service. The prompt responses given
by the companies on SM help resolve customer service issues, which is also recommended in
previous studies (Arora et al., 2021).

5.2 Conclusion
This study endeavours to be a reference for the hotel industry to recognise the multi-faceted
character of the SCRM phenomenon. The study conducted an extensive literature review
and proposed a cohesive research framework that depicts the relevance of CE as a critical
factor in achieving CT and providing ICS even during a crisis like COVID-19. Furthermore,
the study suggests that the effective implementation of SCRM allows hoteliers to monitor
and track customers’ interactions from multiple platforms. Even if the customers change
their preferred communication channel and switch to other platforms, the hotels can still get
a detailed view of customers’ conversations. This SM listening and engaging in online RM
can lead to the co-creation of innovative service experiences that can generate TR and
positive word of mouth, resulting in reduced marketing expenses, increased revenue and
improved relationship quality.

5.3 Theoretical implications

Previous studies in the SCRM domain have primarily focussed on factors like knowledge
management, technology, top management, people and culture as essential elements for
implementing CRM (Dewnarain et al., 2019). However, the current study significantly adds
to the literature on SCRM in the hotel industry in different ways. Firstly, it advances the RM
theory by reflecting the behavioural outcomes of CE on SM channels. The RM theory used
as a theoretical base assisted in facilitating the relevance of online interactions for
establishing customer relationships. This study adds value to marketing communication
and engagement theories and suggests CE is vital for forming relationship management
strategies. Secondly, this research recognises SCRM as a significant high achiever factor for
hotels. Notably, no prior study has analysed the effect of SCRM on customer service and
loyalty concerning the distrust in customers after the pandemic. Thirdly, observing the
moderating effect of the pandemic on CT and ICS is a new approach and gives readers
substantial input for future research in this area. Furthermore, we hope this study will Social CRM
amplify the interdisciplinary research in this important area and augment the interest of
researchers who consider the impact of COVID-19 on the hotel industry to be an intriguing
area of research.

5.4 Practical implications

Gaur and Afaq (2020) stated that sprouting and advancing new ideas that can add value to a 1005
service is not easy for hotels, specifically when the competitors mostly tend to duplicate the
innovations they detect. Nonetheless, the positive relation between SCRM and CE illustrates
to the management that high-level CE facilitated with the adoption of SCRM can provide
valuable insights that can be used as a key input for innovations in the hotel industry. This
more profound connection with customers can boost the co-innovation process that can add
value to the services conferred by the hotels in a real customer-centric way.
Effective implementation of SCRM can help hotels in creating unique customer personas.
For instance, once a guest makes an online hotel booking, the guest’s likes and interests can
be tracked on SM, and all information can be recorded in the hotel’s guest database that the
hotel staff can use to offer services as per the guest’s liking. Hoteliers can use SCRM as an
effective strategy to personalise each touchpoint of the customer experience, particularly
after COVID-19. Also, monitoring and tracking tools can be an effective way for hoteliers to
identify the influencers and brand advocates and reward and motivate them to spread a
positive word of mouth further.
A key challenge experienced by the hotel industry is the lack of the ability to derive
meaningful insights from structured and unstructured data (Buhalis and Sinarta, 2019).
Therefore, the hotel industry needs employees with advanced data analytical skillsets to aid
in making beneficial data-driven decisions for ICS. During the current times of digitalisation,
the entire activities of customers during their customer journey can be tracked and
measured using technology. If considered from a different angle, monitoring and tracking
the customer’s activities can boost direct sales by increasing the number of hotel bookings
using hotel-owned media channels. The concluding recommendation suggests that the
market advantage will favour the most agile hotels that can counter the dynamic market
environment and incorporate real-time guest engagement practices.

5.5 Societal implications

The real-time monitoring and engagement with customers can help understand customers’
fear of COVID-19 and other needs and issues. This information can help hotels improve their
customer services and work on safety and health practices for a safer customer environment
for society’s well-being.

5.6 Limitations and future research directions

The study derived its conceptual model after detecting gaps in the existing literature.
However, this study has a few limitations, leaving much scope for further analysis. For
instance, the study has undertaken the moderating role of COVID-19, but the mediating
role of several factors in the model is not explored. Furthermore, this study’s findings are
associated with only one industry, i.e. the hotel industry, therefore the conclusions cannot be
generalised to other industries. Thus, future research is encouraged to ascertain the viability
of these study findings in different sectors and research settings. Also, this study did not use
a longitudinal approach, which might yield additional insights. Besides studying the
phenomenon in one country, a multi-country study from southeast Asian countries could
have enhanced the application of the research. It could yield other results in future studies.
IJCHM However, our study proposed a holistic framework to help hotel professionals make
35,3 informed decisions about using SCRM to enhance their business.

References
Afaq, A., Gaur, L. and Singh, G. (2022), “A trip down memory lane to travellers’ food experiences”,
British Food Journal, Emerald Publishing Limited, doi: 10.1108/BFJ-01-2022-0063.
1006
Afaq, A., Gaur, L., Singh, G. and Dhir, A. (2021), “COVID-19: transforming air passengers’ behaviour
and reshaping their expectations towards the airline industry”, Tourism Recreation Research,
pp. 1-9.
Ahmad, N.S., Hussain, Z., Abd Hamid, H.S. and Khairani, A.Z. (2021), “Roles of social media and
counselling support in reducing anxiety among Malaysian during covid-19 pandemic”,
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 63, p. 102456.
Anderson, J.C. and Gerbing, D.W. (1988), “Structural equation modeling in practice: a review and
recommended two-step approach”, Psychological Bulletin, American Psychological Association,
Vol. 103 No. 3, p. 411.
Arora, L., Singh, P., Bhatt, V. and Sharma, B. (2021), “Understanding and managing customer
engagement through social customer relationship management”, Journal of Decision Systems,
Taylor and Francis, Vol. 30 Nos 2/3, pp. 215-234.
Belsley, D.A., Kuh, E. and Welsch, R.E. (2005), Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and
Sources of Collinearity, John Wiley and Sons.
Buhalis, D. and Sinarta, Y. (2019), “Real-time co-creation and nowness service: lessons from tourism
and hospitality”, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Routledge, Vol. 36 No. 5, pp. 563-582.
Chi, N., T.K. (2021), “Innovation capability: the impact of e-CRM and COVID-19 risk perception”,
Technology in Society, Vol. 67, p. 101725.
Colmekcioglu, N., Dineva, D. and Lu, X. (2022), “Building back better’: the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the resilience of the hospitality and tourism industries”, International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-12-
2021-1509.
Davari, D., Vayghan, S., Jang, S., Shawn. and Erdem, M. (2022), “Hotel experiences during the
COVID-19 pandemic: high-touch versus high-tech”, International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 1312-1330.
Dedeoglu, B.B. and Bo gan, E. (2021), “The motivations of visiting upscale restaurants during the
COVID-19 pandemic: the role of risk perception and trust in government”, International Journal
of Hospitality Management, Vol. 95, p. 102905.
Denizci Guillet, B. and Shi, X. (2019), “Can revenue management be integrated with customer
relationship management?”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,
Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 978-997.
Dewnarain, S., Ramkissoon, H. and Mavondo, F. (2019), “Social customer relationship management: an
integrated conceptual framework”, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management,
Routledge, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 172-188.
Dryhurst, S., Schneider, C.R., Kerr, J., Freeman, A.L.J., Recchia, G., van der Bles, A.M., Spiegelhalter, D.,
et al. (2020), “Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world”, Journal of Risk Research,
Routledge, Vol. 23 Nos 7/8, pp. 994-1006.
Gaur, L. and Afaq, A. (2020), “Metamorphosis of CRM: incorporation of social media to customer
relationship management in the hospitality industry”, Handbook of Research on Engineering
Innovations and Technology Management in Organizations, IGI Global, pp. 1-23.
Gaur, L., Afaq, A., Singh, G. and Dwivedi, Y.K. (2021a), “Role of artificial intelligence and robotics to
foster the touchless travel during a pandemic: a review and research agenda”, International
 Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 33 No. 11, Social CRM
pp. 4079-4098.
Gaur, L., Afaq, A., Solanki, A., Singh, G., Sharma, S., Jhanjhi, N.Z., My, H.T., et al. (2021b), “Capitalizing
on big data and revolutionary 5G technology: extracting and visualizing ratings and reviews of
global chain hotels”, Computers and Electrical Engineering, Vol. 95, p. 107374.
Giousmpasoglou, C., Marinakou, E. and Zopiatis, A. (2021), “Hospitality managers in turbulent times:
the COVID-19 crisis”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald
Publishing Limited, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 1297-1318. 1007
Greenberg, P. (2009), “Social CRM comes of age”, Sponsored by Oracle.
Greenberg, P. (2010), CRM at the Speed of Light: Social CRM Strategies, Tools, and Techniques,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Guan, J., Wang, W., Guo, Z., Chan, J.H. and Qi, X. (2021), “Customer experience and brand loyalty in the
full-service hotel sector: the role of brand affect”, International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 1620-1645.
Hair, J.F., Anderson, R.E., Babin, B.J. and Black, W.C. (2010), Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global
Perspective, Vol. 7, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Hao, F. and Chon, K.K.-S. (2022), “Contactless service in hospitality: bridging customer equity,
experience, delight, satisfaction, and trust”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 113-134.
Harman, H.H. (1976), Modern Factor Analysis, University of Chicago press.
Harrigan, P., Miles, M.P., Fang, Y. and Roy, S.K. (2020), “The role of social media in the engagement and
information processes of social CRM”, International Journal of Information Management,
Vol. 54, p. 102151.
Harris, L.C. and Goode, M.M.H. (2004), “The four levels of loyalty and the pivotal role of trust: a study of
online service dynamics”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 80 No. 2, pp. 139-158.
Hasan, R., Shams, R. and Rahman, M. (2021), “Consumer trust and perceived risk for voice-controlled
artificial intelligence: the case of SIRI”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 131, pp. 591-597.
Hu, T., Wang, S., She, B., Zhang, M., Huang, X., Cui, Y., Khuri, J., et al. (2021), “Human mobility data in
the COVID-19 pandemic: characteristics”, Applications, and Challenges, International Journal of
Digital Earth, Taylor and Francis, Vol. 14 No. 9, pp. 1126-1147.
Huang, H. and Liu, S.Q. (2020), “‘Donate to help combat COVID-19!’ How typeface affects the
effectiveness of CSR marketing?”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 32 No. 10, pp. 3315-3333.
Hyken, S. (2016), “How to use twitter for customer service”, Forbes, available at: www.forbes.com/sites/
shephyken/2016/04/30/how-to-use-twitter-for-customer-service/?sh=28cd9dc449f2 (accessed 30 June
2022).
Iglesias, O., Markovic, S., Bagherzadeh, M. and Singh, J.J. (2020), “Co-creation: a key link between
corporate social responsibility, customer trust, and customer loyalty”, Journal of Business Ethics,
Vol. 163 No. 1, pp. 151-166.
Islam, J.U. and Rahman, Z. (2016), “Linking customer engagement to trust and word-of-mouth on
Facebook brand communities: an empirical study”, Journal of Internet Commerce, Routledge,
Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 40-58.
Jeong, M., Kim, K., Ma, F. and DiPietro, R. (2022), “Key factors driving customers’ restaurant dining
behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 836-858.
Jiang, Y. and Wen, J. (2020), “Effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management: a perspective
article”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing
Limited, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 2563-2573.
IJCHM Khan, R.U., Salamzadeh, Y., Iqbal, Q. and Yang, S. (2022), “The impact of customer relationship
management and company reputation on customer loyalty: the mediating role of customer
35,3 satisfaction”, Journal of Relationship Marketing, Routledge, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 1-26.
Kline, R.B. (2015), Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, Guilford publications.
Kong, Y., Wang, Y., Hajli, S. and Featherman, M. (2020), “In sharing economy we trust: examining the
effect of social and technical enablers on millennials’ trust in sharing commerce”, Computers in
1008 Human Behavior, Vol. 108, p. 105993.
Kwok, L., Lee, J. and Han, S.H. (2021), “Crisis communication on social media: what types of
COVID-19 messages get the attention?”, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, SAGE Publications
Inc, p. 19389655211028144.
Latif, K.F. (2021), “Recipes for customer loyalty: a cross-country study of the hotel industry”,
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited,
Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 1892-1916.
Li, M.-W., Teng, H.-Y. and Chen, C.-Y. (2020), “Unlocking the customer engagement-brand loyalty
relationship in tourism social media: the roles of brand attachment and customer trust”, Journal
of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Vol. 44, pp. 184-192.
Lindell, M.K. and Whitney, D.J. (2001), “Accounting for common method variance in cross-
sectional research designs”, Journal of Applied Psychology, American Psychological
Association, Vol. 86 No. 1, p. 114.
Malhotra, N.K., Kim, S.S. and Patil, A. (2006), “Accounting for common method variance in is research:
reanalysis of past studies using a marker-variable technique”, Management Science, Vol. 52
No. 12, pp. 1865-1883.
Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, S.D. (1994), “The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing”, Journal
of Marketing, SAGE Publications Inc, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 20-38.
Peterson, R.A. (1994), “A meta-analysis of Cronbach’s coefficient alpha”, Journal of Consumer Research,
The University of Chicago Press, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 381-391.
Ramsaran-Fowdar, R.R. and Fowdar, S. (2013), “The implications of Facebook marketing for
organizations”, Contemporary Management Research, Vol. 9 No. 1.
Rather, R.A. and Sharma, J. (2017), “Customer engagement for evaluating customer relationships in
hotel industry”, European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 1-13.
Salem, S.F. (2021), “Do relationship marketing constructs enhance consumer retention? An empirical study
within the hotel industry”, SAGE Open, SAGE Publications, Vol. 11 No. 2, p. 21582440211009224.
Sashi, C.M., Brynildsen, G. and Bilgihan, A. (2019), “Social media, customer engagement and
advocacy”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing
Limited, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 1247-1272.
Schumacker, R.E. and Lomax, R.G. (2010), A Beginner’s Guide to Structural Equation Modeling (Third),
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Shulga, L. v., Busser, J.A. and Bai, B. (2021), “Hospitality business models, customer well-being and trust:
the mediating role of competitive service advantage”, International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 33 No. 9, pp. 3040-3064.
Sigala, M. (2018), “Implementing social customer relationship management”, International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 30
No. 7, pp. 2698-2726.
Sirdeshmukh, D., Singh, J. and Sabol, B. (2002), “Consumer trust, value, and loyalty in relational
exchanges”, Journal of Marketing, SAGE Publications Inc, Vol. 66 No. 1, pp. 15-37.
Sofi, M.R., Bashir, I., Parry, M.A. and Dar, A. (2020), “The effect of customer relationship management
(CRM) dimensions on hotel customer’s satisfaction in Kashmir”, International Journal of
Tourism Cities, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 601-620.
Sota, S., Chaudhry, H. and Srivastava, M.K. (2020), “Customer relationship management research in Social CRM
hospitality industry: a review and classification”, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management,
Routledge, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 39-64.
Tavitiyaman, P. and Qu, H. (2013), “Destination image and behavior intention of travelers to Thailand:
the moderating effect of perceived risk”, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Routledge,
Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 169-185.
Thaichon, P., Liyanaarachchi, G., Quach, S., Weaven, S. and Bu, Y. (2020), “Online relationship
marketing: evolution and theoretical insights into online relationship marketing”, Marketing 1009
Intelligence and Planning, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 38 No. 6, pp. 676-698.
Weinberg, B.D. and Berger, P.D. (2011), “Connected customer lifetime value: the impact of social
media”, Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 328-344.
West, S.G., Finch, J.F. and Curran, P.J. (1995), Structural Equation Models with Nonnormal Variables:
Problems and Remedies, Sage Publications, Inc.
Wu, J.S., Ye, S., Zheng, C.J. and Law, R. (2021), “Revisiting customer loyalty toward mobile e-commerce
in the hospitality industry: does brand viscosity matter?”, International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 33 No. 10, pp. 3514-3534.
Yang, Y., Liu, H. and Chen, X. (2020), “COVID-19 and restaurant demand: early effects of the pandemic
and stay-at-home orders”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,
Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 32 No. 12, pp. 3809-3834.
Zeithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L. and Parasuraman, A. (1996), “The behavioral consequences of service
quality”, Journal of Marketing, SAGE Publications Inc, Vol. 60 No. 2, pp. 31-46.

Further reading
Bagozzi, R.P. and Yi, Y. (2012), “Specification, evaluation, and interpretation of structural equation
models”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 8-34.
Rather, R.A. (2019), “Consequences of consumer engagement in service marketing: an empirical
exploration”, Journal of Global Marketing, Routledge, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 116-135.

About the authors

Anam Afaq is a Research Scholar and pursuing her PhD in Marketing Management from Amity
University, Noida. Her area of interest in research includes Big Data Analytics and Digital Marketing.
She is a certified Digital Marketer.
Loveleen Gaur (PhD) is a Professor of Management and Information Systems in Amity
International Business School, at Amity University, Noida, India. She is serving in various editorial
board of journals of repute. Her area of research is Artificial Intelligence and Digital Marketing,
Business Intelligence and Data Mining.
Gurmeet Singh (PhD) is currently working as Professor and Head in School of Business and
Management at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. Prior to this, he was Associate Dean Research,
Postgraduate Affairs and Internationalisation for seven years in the Faculty of Business and Economics.
Gurmeet Singh is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: singh_g@usp.ac.fj

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com