Exploring the Role of Sustainability in Achieving Customer Loyalty via PLS-SEM

Given the growing emphasis on sustainability, driven by institutions and governments worldwide, companies can no longer overlook its importance, not only for the essential ethical and social reasons but also as a strategic imperative. Consumers are becoming increasingly attentive to sustainability in their purchasing decisions and brands that adopt sustainable practices often experience higher levels of trust, greater customer satisfaction, and deeper emotional engagement. We developed a model that analyzes the impact of food values, subjective norm and brand preferences on customer loyalty. The model integrates the key components of Keller's Customer-Based Brand Equity model with Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. The purpose of this paper is to test the model's predictive capability and explore the role of sustainability in achieving customer loyalty, given that the constructs identified as potential determinants of customer loyalty include items directly related to the theme of sustainability. We designed and administered a questionnaire through which 510 valid responses were collected. To test our path model, we resorted to Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), which allowed us to estimate the path coefficients and assess the predictive power of our constructs. The analysis was conducted using the R software. Preliminary results provided empirical support for all our seven research hypotheses, with the predictor constructs displaying a moderate explanatory power for customer loyalty (R2 around 0.4). The research project is proposed as an ongoing work, with data collection and analysis activities set to continue in the near future.