Does opinion leadership influence service evaluation and loyalty intentions? Evidence from an arts services provider

The role of opinion leadership to develop positive loyalty effects in the arts services has received little attention. The objectives of this paper are: first, to test the influence of opinion leadership between service attributes and loyalty; and second, to test if this effect is different across gender and education level groups. The model was validated using EFA and multiple regression analysis with bootstrapping. Results fully support that during the service evaluation process, loyalty is predicted differently according to the individual's opinion leadership level. When opinion leadership is high, satisfaction-related attributes are determinant to predict a person's loyalty; when opinion leadership is low, perceived quality-related attributes act as predictors of loyalty. The data also supports a moderation effect amongst women and visitors in the high education level group. These findings highlight the importance of understanding opinion leaders in identifying ways for an organization to strengthen interactions among arts patrons, and develop positive loyalty effects.