In the field of marketing management, customer retention is a crucial performance metric as it has a direct impact on customer lifetime value. To maintain customer loyalty, businesses employ a variety of promotional strategies. This study aims to investigate the need for creating retention strategies to increase profits over the long-term. Specifically, it examines the importance of customer retention and proposes a customer value/retention model. The primary objective of this research is to integrate three mediating factors, namely word of mouth (WOM), customer loyalty (CL), and customer satisfaction (CS), and to evaluate their influence on customer retention using a Taiwanese chemical manufacturing company, YL Company, as a case study. A total of 318 respondents (Taiwanese) participated in the survey conducted for this study. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and SEM-AMOS were used to assess the model fit for the proposed model. Hierarchical regression and the PROCESS macro were employed to examine the mediation and moderation effects. The results indicate that market stimuli factors such as product quality, service quality, price attribution, distribution intensity, and promotion efficiency play a significant role in the elicitation of the three mediating variables. Furthermore, relationship proneness acts as a negative moderator that can inhibit the influence of customer WOM and loyalty on customer retention. As there are very few studies that have focused on the mediating and moderating role of customer retention, the findings of this study can serve as a valuable reference for further research and model extension. Additionally, these results are also useful for professionals to design accurate retention strategies.

Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1975). A Bayesian analysis of attribution processes. Psychological Bulletin, 82(2), 261.
Allen, C., Kania, D., & Yaeckel, B. (2001). One-to-one web marketing: Build a relationship marketing strategy one customer at a time: John Wiley & Sons.
Anderson, E. W., Fornell, C., & Lehmann, D. R. (1994). Customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: Findings from Sweden. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 53-66.
Ang, L., & Buttle, F. (2006). Customer retention management processes: A quantitative study. European Journal of Marketing, 40(1/2), 83-99.
Armstrong, A., & Hagel, J. (2009). The real value of online communities Knowledge and communities (pp. 85-95): Routledge.
Auh, S., & Johnson, M. D. (2005). Compatibility effects in evaluations of satisfaction and loyalty. Journal of Economic Psychology, 26(1), 35-57.
Avlonitis, G. J., & Panagopoulos, N. G. (2005). Antecedents and consequences of CRM technology acceptance in the sales force. Industrial Marketing Management, 34(4), 355-368.
Azadani, E. N., Hosseinian, S., & Moradzadeh, B. (2010). Generation and reserve dispatch in a competitive market using constrained particle swarm optimization. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 32(1), 79-86.
Bagram, M. M. M., & Khan, S. (2012). Attaining customer loyalty! The role of consumer attitude and consumer behavior. International Review of Management and Business Research, 1(1), 1.
Bakator, M., Đorđević, D., & Ćoćkalo, D. (2018). Promotional activities and customer satisfaction: Long-term influence or a temporary marketing'mirage'? Marketing, 49(2), 113-123.
Barsky, J. D., & Labagh, R. (1992). A strategy for customer satisfaction. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 33(5), 32-40.
Bawa, K., & Shoemaker, R. W. (1987). The coupon-prone consumer: some findings based on purchase behavior across product classes. Journal of Marketing, 51(4), 99-110.
Bejou, D., Keningham, T. L., & Aksoy, L. (2013). Customer lifetime value: Reshaping the way we manage to maximize profits. New York: Routledge.
Berry, L. L. (1995). Relationship marketing of services—growing interest, emerging perspectives. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(4), 236-245.
Bloemer, J., Odekerken-Schröder, G., & Kestens, L. (2003). The impact of need for social affiliation and consumer relationship proneness on behavioural intentions: An empirical study in a hairdresser's context. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 10(4), 231-240.
Bohling, T., Bowman, D., LaValle, S., Mittal, V., Narayandas, D., Ramani, G., & Varadarajan, R. (2006). CRM implementation: Effectiveness issues and insights. Journal of Service Research, 9(2), 184-194.
Bowen, J. T., & Chen, S. L. (2001). The relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13(5), 213-217.
Bucklin, R. E., Siddarth, S., & Silva-Risso, J. M. (2008). Distribution intensity and new car choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 45(4), 473-486.
Buttle, J., Dillon, P., & Eerkes, G. (2004). Hydrologic coupling of slopes, riparian zones and streams: an example from the Canadian Shield. Journal of Hydrology, 287(1-4), 161-177.
Carlsson, F., Frykblom, P., & Lagerkvist, C. J. (2007). Preferences with and without prices-does the price attribute affect behavior in stated preference surveys? Environmental and Resource Economics, 38(2), 155-164.
Cengiz, F., Dao, T. A., & Jirsak, O. (2010). Influence of solution properties on the roller electrospinning of poly (vinyl alcohol). Polymer Engineering & Science, 50(5), 936-943.
Chang, T.-Z., & Wildt, A. R. (1994). Price, product information, and purchase intention: An empirical study. Journal of the Academy of Marketing science, 22(1), 16-27.
Cheung, M. L., Pires, G., & Rosenberger III, P. J. (2020). Exploring synergetic effects of social-media communication and distribution strategy on consumer-based Brand equity. Asian Journal of Business Research, 10(1), 126-149.
Chiu, C. M., Wang, E. T., Fang, Y. H., & Huang, H. Y. (2014). Understanding customers' repeat purchase intentions in B2C e‐commerce: the roles of utilitarian value, hedonic value and perceived risk. Information Systems Journal, 24(1), 85-114.
Clark, A. E. (1997). Job satisfaction and gender: why are women so happy at work? Labour Economics, 4(4), 341-372.
Crosby, L. A. (1991). Building and maintaining quality in the service relationship. Service quality: Multidisciplinary and multinational perspectives, 269-287.
Day, G. S. (1994). The capabilities of market-driven organizations. Journal of Marketing, 58(4), 37-52.
De Wulf, K., Odekerken-Schröder, G., & Iacobucci, D. (2001). Investments in consumer relationships: A cross-country and cross-industry exploration. Journal of Marketing, 65(4), 33-50.
Deming, W. E. (1994). The need for change. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 17(7), 30.
DeSouza, G. (1992). Designing a customer retention plan. Journal of Business Strategy, 13(2), 24-28.
Di Domenico, M., Haugh, H., & Tracey, P. (2010). Social bricolage: Theorizing social value creation in social enterprises. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(4), 681-703.
Dick, A. S., & Basu, K. (1994). Customer loyalty: toward an integrated conceptual framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(2), 99-113.
Edwards, K. (1990). The interplay of affect and cognition in attitude formation and change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(2), 202.
Erickson, G. M., & Johansson, J. K. (1985). The role of price in multi-attribute product evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(2), 195-199.
Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting. Social Behaviour.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics: Sage Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA.
Frazier, G. L., & Lassar, W. M. (1996). Determinants of distribution intensity. Journal of Marketing, 60(4), 39-51.
Garnefeld, I., Eggert, A., Helm, S. V., & Tax, S. S. (2013). Growing existing customers’ revenue streams through customer referral programs. Journal of Marketing, 77(4), 17-32.
Gong, T., & Yi, Y. (2018). The effect of service quality on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and happiness in five Asian countries. Psychology & Marketing, 35(6), 427-442.
Gordon, D. R. (1998). Effects of invasive, non‐indigenous plant species on ecosystem processes: lessons from Florida. Ecological Applications, 8(4), 975-989.
Guru, R. R. D., & Paulssen, M. (2020). Customers’ experienced product quality: scale development and validation. European Journal of Marketing, 54(4), 645-670.
Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2011). PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(2), 139-152.
Hair Jr, J. F., Matthews, L. M., Matthews, R. L., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). PLS-SEM or CB-SEM: updated guidelines on which method to use. International Journal of Multivariate Data Analysis, 1(2), 107-123.
Han, H., & Ryu, K. (2009). The roles of the physical environment, price perception, and customer satisfaction in determining customer loyalty in the restaurant industry. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 33(4), 487-510.
Hanssens, Y., Deleu, D., & Taqi, A. (2001). Etiologic and demographic characteristics of poisoning: a prospective hospital-based study in Oman. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology, 39(4), 371-380.
Henseler, J. (2017). Bridging design and behavioral research with variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of Advertising, 46(1), 178-192.
Hogan, J. E., Lemon, K. N., & Libai, B. (2004). Quantifying the ripple: Word-of-mouth and advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 44(3), 271-280.
Hollebeek, L. D., Glynn, M. S., & Brodie, R. J. (2014). Consumer brand engagement in social media: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 149-165.
Hu, L. t., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55.
Jago, L. K., & Shaw, R. N. (2000). Consumer perceptions of special events: A multi-stimulus validation. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 8(4), 1-24.
Jones, M. A., Reynolds, K. E., & Arnold, M. J. (2006). Hedonic and utilitarian shopping value: Investigating differential effects on retail outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 59(9), 974-981.
Juran, J. (1988). Juran on planning for quality: Collier Macmillan.
Kandampully, J., & Suhartanto, D. (2003). The role of customer satisfaction and image in gaining customer loyalty in the hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 10(1-2), 3-25.
Keaveney, S. M. (1995). Customer switching behavior in service industries: An exploratory study. Journal of Marketing, 59(2), 71-82.
Keller, K. L., & Kotler, P. (2022). Branding in B2B firms Handbook of business-to-business marketing (pp. 205-224): Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kelley, H. H., & Michela, J. L. (1980). Attribution theory and research. Annual Review of Psychology, 31(1), 457-501.
Kim, H.-S., & Yoon, C.-H. (2004). Determinants of subscriber churn and customer loyalty in the Korean mobile telephony market. Telecommunications Policy, 28(9-10), 751-765.
Kim, H. Y., Kang, J. Y. M., & Johnson, K. K. (2012). Effect of consumer relationship proneness on perceived loyalty program attributes and resistance to change. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 40(5), 376-387.
Koiranen, M. (1995). Custopreneurship coalitions in relationship marketing. Understanding Stakeholder Thinking, 184-194.
Kotler, P. (1992). Marketing's new paradigms: What's really happening out there. Planning Review, 20(5), 50-52.
Krishnamurthi, L., Mazumdar, T., & Raj, S. (1992). Asymmetric response to price in consumer brand choice and purchase quantity decisions. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 387-400.
Kuo, N.-T., Chang, K.-C., Cheng, Y.-S., & Lai, C.-H. (2013). How service quality affects customer loyalty in the travel agency: The effects of customer satisfaction, service recovery, and perceived value. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 18(7), 803-822.
Lai, W.-H., & Vinh, N. Q. (2013). An application of AHP approach to investigate tourism promotional effectiveness. Tourism and Hospitality Management, 19(1.), 1-22.
Lee, C. C., Yang, J., & Yu, L. M. (2001). The knowledge value of customers and employees in product quality. Journal of management development, 20(8), 691-706.
Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69-96.
Lenney, E. (1977). Women's self-confidence in achievement settings. Psychological Bulletin, 84(1), 1-13.
Lewin, J. E., & Johnston, W. J. (1997). Relationship marketing theory in practice: a case study. Journal of Business Research, 39(1), 23-31.
Lichtenstein, D. R., Netemeyer, R. G., & Burton, S. (1990). Distinguishing coupon proneness from value consciousness: An acquisition-transaction utility theory perspective. Journal of Marketing, 54(3), 54-67.
Lin, Y., Su, H.-Y., & Chien, S. (2006). A knowledge-enabled procedure for customer relationship management. Industrial Marketing Management, 35(4), 446-456.
Manusov, V., & Spitzberg, B. (2008). Attribution theory: na.
Martin, C. L. (1998). Relationship marketing: a high‐involvement product attribute approach. Journal of product & brand management, 7(1), 6-26.
McMullan, R., & Gilmore, A. (2003). The conceptual development of customer loyalty measurement: A proposed scale. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 11(3), 230-243.
McMullan, R., & Gilmore, A. (2008). Customer loyalty: an empirical study. European journal of marketing, 42(9/10), 1084-1094.
Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology: the MIT Press.
Menidjel, C., & Bilgihan, A. (2021). How perceptions of relationship investment influence customer loyalty: the mediating role of perceived value and the moderating role of relationship proneness. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 1-24.
Nuseir, M., & Aljumah, A. (2020). The role of digital marketing in business performance with the moderating effect of environment factors among SMEs of UAE. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 11(3), 310-324.
Oliver, R. L. (2000). Customer satisfaction with service. Handbook of services marketing and management, 247-254.
Parish, J. T., & Holloway, B. B. (2010). Consumer relationship proneness: a reexamination and extension across service exchanges. Journal of Services Marketing, 24(1), 61-73.
Qin, H., & Prybutok, V. R. (2009). Service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in fast‐food restaurants. International journal of quality and service sciences, 1(1), 78-95.
Ranaweera, C., & Prabhu, J. (2003a). The influence of satisfaction, trust and switching barriers on customer retention in a continuous purchasing setting. International journal of service industry management.
Ranaweera, C., & Prabhu, J. (2003b). The influence of satisfaction, trust and switching barriers on customer retention in a continuous purchasing setting. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 14(4), 374-395.
Raynard, M. (2017). Understanding academic e-books through the diffusion of innovations theory as a basis for developing effective marketing and educational strategies. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(1), 82-86.
Reinartz, W. J., & Kumar, V. (2003). The impact of customer relationship characteristics on profitable lifetime duration. Journal of Marketing, 67(1), 77-99.
Rimawan, E., Mustofa, A., & Mulyanto, A. D. (2017). The influence of product quality, service quality and trust on customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty (Case Study PT ABC Tbk). International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 8(7), 2330-2336.
Rosenberg, L. J., & Czepiel, J. A. (1984). A marketing approach for customer retention. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 1(2), 45-51.
Rowley, J. (2001). Remodelling marketing communications in an Internet environment. Internet Research, 11(3), 203-212.
Rust, R. T., & Zahorik, A. J. (1993). Customer satisfaction, customer retention, and market share. Journal of Retailing, 69(2), 193-215.
Ryu, K., Lee, H. R., & Kim, W. G. (2012). The influence of the quality of the physical environment, food, and service on restaurant image, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. International journal of contemporary hospitality management, 24(2), 200-223.
Schneider, B., & White, S. S. (2004). Service quality: Research perspectives.
Schroer, J., & Hertel, G. (2009). Voluntary engagement in an open web-based encyclopedia: Wikipedians and why they do it. Media Psychology, 12(1), 96-120.
Shafiee, M. M., Foroudi, P., & Tabaeeian, R. A. (2021). Memorable experience, tourist-destination identification and destination love. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 7(3), 799-817.
Shah, S. H. H., Lei, S., Hussain, S. T., & Mariam, S. (2020). How consumer perceived ethicality influence repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth? A mediated moderation model. Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 9(1), 1-21.
Shaikh, S., Malik, A., Akram, M., & Chakrabarti, R. (2017). Do luxury brands successfully entice consumers? The role of bandwagon effect. International Marketing Review, 34(4), 498-513.
Sheth, J. N., & Parvatiyar, A. (1995). The evolution of relationship marketing. International business review, 4(4), 397-418.
Sundaram, D., & Webster, C. (1999). The role of brand familiarity on the impact of word-of-mouth communication on brand evaluations. ACR North American Advances.
Thomas, J. S. (2001). A methodology for linking customer acquisition to customer retention. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 262-268.
Thomas, S. (2013). Linking customer loyalty to customer satisfaction and store image: a structural model for retail stores. Decision, 40(1), 15-25.
Uhl, J. N., & Brown, H. L. (1971). Consumer perception of experimental retail food price changes. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 5(2), 174-185.
van Giesen, R. I., Fischer, A. R., van Dijk, H., & van Trijp, H. C. (2015). Affect and cognition in attitude formation toward familiar and unfamiliar attitude objects. PloS one, 10(10), e0141790.
Verhoef, P. C., Reinartz, W. J., & Krafft, M. (2010). Customer engagement as a new perspective in customer management. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 247-252.
Villanueva, J., & Hanssens, D. M. (2007). Customer equity: Measurement, management and research opportunities. Foundations and Trends® in Marketing, 1(1), 1-95.
Waller, M. A., & Ahire, S. (1996). Management perception of the link between product quality and customers’ view of product quality. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 16(9), 22-33.
Wansink, B. (2003). Developing a cost-effective brand loyalty program. Journal of Advertising Research, 43(3), 301-309.
Watchravesringkan, K. T., Karpova, E., Hodges, N. N., & Copeland, R. (2010). The competitive position of Thailand's apparel industry: Challenges and opportunities for globalization. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 14(4), 576-597.
Webster Jr, F. E. (1965). The “deal-prone” consumer. Journal of Marketing Research, 2(2), 186-189.
Yang, Z., & Peterson, R. T. (2004). Customer perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty: The role of switching costs. Psychology & Marketing, 21(10), 799-822.
Zeithaml, J., Pižl, V., & Sklenička, P. (2009). Earthworm assemblages in an ecotone between forest and arable field and their relations with soil properties. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira, 44(8), 922-926.
Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31-46.
Zhang, K. Z., Benyoucef, M., & Zhao, S. J. (2016). Building brand loyalty in social commerce: The case of brand microblogs. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 15(0), 14-25.
Zhong, Y., & Moon, H. C. (2020). What drives customer satisfaction, loyalty, and happiness in fast-food restaurants in China? Perceived price, service quality, food quality, physical environment quality, and the moderating role of gender. Foods, 9(4), 460.
Zhou, L., & Wong, A. (2004). Consumer impulse buying and in-store stimuli in Chinese supermarkets. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 16(2), 37-53.
Zhu, F., & Zhang, X. (2010). Impact of online consumer reviews on sales: The moderating role of product and consumer characteristics. Journal of Marketing, 74(2), 133-148.