Customer personality and relationship satisfaction : Empirical evidence from Indian banking sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of customer personality and customer relationship proneness (CRP) on customer’s relationship satisfaction (CS) with the firm in emerging economies context. In the study, the authors state that the relationship proneness of the customer (CRP) would be influenced by personality trait of the customer. To examine the argument on personality trait, the authors have adopted Big Five personality trait theory in this study. The authors also argue that CRP would influence CS. Furthermore the authors put forth that customer’s perception of marketer’s relationship orientation (RMO) would mediate the relationship between CRP and CS. Design/methodology/approach – Data for the study were collected through structured questionnaire. A sample of 428 respondents was obtained through questionnaire survey (response rate 41.19 percent) and the hypotheses depicting the aforementioned relationships were empirically tested in the context of banking services in India. Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used for data analysis. Findings – The results confirm that personality traits influences CRP. Further, customer’s perception of RMO is found to have a mediating effect. Research limitations/implications – The study utilizes cross-sectional data, so the results of the study might vary depending upon the context (country/sector). Practical implications – The outcomes of the study can be utilized by the marketers, particularly in the emerging economies like India for formulating targeted strategies in accordance with the personality type of the customers. Originality/value – The relationship between CRP, personality traits and CS of the customer using Big Five personality theory has been empirically analysed in the context of an emerging economy.