THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL MARKETING ON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND LOYALTY IN PRODUCT AND SERVICE PURCHASING AT SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS
Keywords:
Digital marketing, Customer experience, Customer loyalty, Specialty restaurants, Mediating variableAbstract
This study aimed to: (1) examine digital marketing, customer experience, and customer loyalty in niche restaurants; (2) analyze the influence of digital marketing on customer experience and customer loyalty; (3) analyze the influence of customer experience on customer loyalty; and (4) assess the combined influence of digital marketing and customer experience on customer loyalty in the context of niche restaurants. The sample consisted of 397 customers selected through purposive sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire, validated for content with an index of item-objective congruence (IOC) of 0.93, and demonstrated reliability with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.78. Descriptive statistics used included frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, while inferential statistics employed multiple regression analysis to test the research hypotheses.
The findings revealed that: (1) most respondents perceived digital marketing, customer experience, and customer loyalty at a very high level; (2) digital marketing significantly predicted customer experience by 84.0% (R² = 0.84); (3) customer experience predicted customer loyalty by 81.0% (R² = 0.805); and (4) digital marketing and customer experience jointly predicted customer loyalty by 89.0% (R² = 0.89). The study concludes that enhancing customer experience through effective digital marketing is a crucial strategy for fostering customer loyalty. Business operators are advised to implement integrated strategies that focus on both digital marketing and experience management to strengthen customer retention and achieve long-term competitive advantage.
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