IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i6p2396-d1608465.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Building Customer Loyalty Through Emotional Connection: How Service Provider Rapport Drives Sustainable Business

Author

Listed:
  • Yuxin Wang

    (Department of Service Management, Korea Aerospace University, Goyang-si 10540, Republic of Korea)

  • Zheng-Jun Jin

    (Department of Business Administration, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea)

  • Chang-Hyun Jin

    (Department of Business Administration, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea)

  • Changfang Kan

    (Department of Industrial Design, Kyonggi University, Suwon-si 16227, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

This research examines how interpersonal rapport influences sustainable customer relationships during service failures, with a focus on customer empathy as a mediating factor and emotional intelligence and service authenticity as moderating variables. In the context of sustainable service management, analysis of data from 672 respondents through structural equation modeling reveals that rapport significantly affects both cognitive and emotional dimensions of customer empathy, subsequently enhancing satisfaction and long-term loyalty outcomes. This study demonstrates that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between rapport and cognitive empathy, while service authenticity moderates rapport’s associations with both empathy components. This investigation advances sustainable service recovery theory by illuminating customer empathy formation within rapport-building processes and validating the moderating effects of emotional intelligence and service authenticity. The findings contribute to the sustainable service management literature by empirically confirming these relationships within the rapport–empathy–loyalty framework, suggesting that service providers should emphasize developing meaningful interpersonal connections to ensure sustainable customer relationships, particularly during service recovery situations. This research provides valuable insights for developing sustainable service practices that enhance both social and economic aspects of service organizations, while offering quantifiable metrics for measuring socio-emotional sustainability in service recovery contexts. This approach aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by promoting responsible consumption and production patterns in service industries, while fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth through enhanced service quality and customer relationship management.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuxin Wang & Zheng-Jun Jin & Chang-Hyun Jin & Changfang Kan, 2025. "Building Customer Loyalty Through Emotional Connection: How Service Provider Rapport Drives Sustainable Business," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:6:p:2396-:d:1608465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2396/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2396/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nguyen, Thi Nguyet Que & Tran, Quan Ha Minh & Chylinski, Mathew, 2020. "Empathy and delight in a personal service setting," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 11-17.
    2. Neele Inken Abend & María D. De-Juan-Vigaray & Mandy Nuszbaum, 2023. "An Experimental Study of How Missing Employee Empathy in Failed Service Interactions Affects Empathetic Customers’ EWoM-Giving Behaviour," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, May.
    3. A. Camilleri & R. Filieri, 2023. "Customer satisfaction and loyalty with online consumer reviews: Factors affecting revisit intentions," Post-Print hal-04779131, HAL.
    4. Alhouti, Sarah & Johnson, Catherine M. & Holloway, Betsy Bugg, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility authenticity: Investigating its antecedents and outcomes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1242-1249.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baobao Song & Xiaomeng Lan, 2022. "Meeting Consumers’ Expectations: Exploring Corporate Social Advocacy Communication in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Alhouti, Sarah & Wright, Scott A. & Baker, Thomas L., 2021. "Customers need to relate: The conditional warm glow effect of CSR on negative customer experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 240-253.
    3. Mathieu Lajante & David Remisch, 2023. "Frontline Employees’ Empathy in Service Recovery: a Systematic Literature Review and Agenda for the Future," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Eugene Kang & Nguyen Bao Lam, 2023. "The impact of environmental disclosure on initial public offering underpricing: Sustainable development in Singapore," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 119-133, January.
    5. Virginia S. Harrison & Michail Vafeiadis & Joseph Bober, 2022. "Greening Professional Sport: How Communicating the Fit, Proximity, and Impact of Sustainability Efforts Affects Fan Perceptions and Supportive Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    6. Chen Wang & Yeonggil Kim & Changhee Kim, 2022. "Are all CSR Activities in Your SNS Authentic? The Antecedents and Outcomes of Consumer Perceived Authenticity of CSR," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, November.
    7. Lim, Xin-Jean & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Ngo, Liem Viet & Chan, Kara & Ting, Hiram, 2023. "How do crazy rich Asians perceive sustainable luxury? Investigating the determinants of consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. Seung Kook Choi & Yonghwi Noh, 2024. "The role of authenticity in creating shared value: From the perspective of sports firms’ corporate image and customer loyalty," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 18(3), pages 433-454, December.
    9. Wallach, Karen Anne & Popovich, Deidre, 2023. "When Big Is Less than Small: Why dominant brands lack authenticity in their sustainability initiatives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Kuho Lin & Michael Y.‐P. Peng & Muhammad Khalid Anser & Zahid Yousaf & Arshian Sharif, 2021. "Bright harmony of environmental management initiatives for achieving corporate social responsibility authenticity and legitimacy: Glimpse of hotel and tourism industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 640-647, March.
    11. Lu, Hao & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Liu, Xiaoyu, 2023. "Enhancer or stabilizer? Investigating the distinct impact of primary and secondary CSR on the level and variability of firm value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    12. Valentini, Chiara & Munnukka, Juha & Zhao, Hui, 2024. "Stakeholder satisfaction with corporate conflict engagement actions: Exploring the effects of goodwill, trust, and value alignment," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 797-813.
    13. Brownen-Trinh, Ruby & Orujov, Ayan, 2023. "Corporate socio-political activism and retail investors: Evidence from the Black Lives Matter campaign," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Khalid Alharbi & Joon Kyoung Kim & Christopher Noland & Jackson Carter, 2022. "When Corporate Social Advocacy Meets Controversial Celebrity: The Role of Consumer–Brand Congruence and Consumer-Celebrity Congruence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-19, February.
    15. Dongho Yoo & Jieun Lee, 2018. "The Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Fit and CSR Consistency on Company Evaluation: The Role of CSR Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    16. Holmlund, Maria & Kowalkowski, Christian & Biggemann, Sergio, 2016. "Organizational behavior in innovation, marketing, and purchasing in business service contexts—An agenda for academic inquiry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2457-2462.
    17. Gao, Ruoxin & Yao, Shiqing & Yang, Ruina, 2024. "Responsible audit and consumer awareness under collusion risk," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 314(2), pages 466-476.
    18. Janssen, Catherine & Swaen, Valérie & Du, Shuili, 2022. "Is a specific claim always better? The double-edged effects of claim specificity in green advertising," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 435-447.
    19. Ponce de Leon, Rebecca & Carter, James T. & Rosette, Ashleigh Shelby, 2024. "Sincere solidarity or performative pretense? Evaluations of organizational allyship," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    20. Pino, Giovanni & Nieto Garcia, Marta & Peluso, Alessandro M. & Viglia, Giampaolo & Filieri, Raffaele, 2023. "Understanding how virtuous lenders encourage support for peer-to-peer platforms’ prosocial initiatives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:6:p:2396-:d:1608465. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.