Dual organizational identification impacting client satisfaction and word of mouth loyalty

This research applies social identity theory to the project manager–client relationship in the service sector to examine the impact of dual identification and client co-location on the satisfaction and word of mouth (loyalty) of the client. The research is conducted in the information technology industry with a sample of project manager–client dyadic relationships. The results show that project managers that have identification to their own organization and the client organization have significantly more loyal clients compared to project managers that do not have identification to their organization or the client organization. Project managers that only have client organization identification and not service organization identification have significantly more client loyalty compared to project managers that only have service organization identification. Further, the results show that being co-located with a client results in greater client satisfaction, but does not increase a project manager's identification to the client organization.