Customer-Company Identification and its Impact on Customer In- and Extra-Role Behaviours

Abstract

In an implicit response to the success of companies such as Apple or Harley-Davidson Bhattacharya and Sen (2003) proposed how customer-company (C-C) identification may enable companies to turn their customers into loyal apostles. The present paper shows that customers' identification with a retailer is a central element to establish strong emotional ties i.e. affective commitment between customers and the retailer. These emotional ties to the retailer in turn (a) motivate loyalty intentions but also (b) motivate so-called customer extra-role behaviours. Customer extra-role behaviours include additional customer behaviours that enable companies to achieve a competitive advantage, because their customers are more resilient to negative information, participate in improvement processes, and help other customers