Corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty in intercity bus services

•Implications of an intercity bus company's CSR policy implementation are examined.•A new model is proposed to examine the CSR and customer loyalty relationship.•A study on intercity bus services is conducted using structural equation modeling.•CSR has an indirect effect on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.•A new finding highlights the importance of corporate image as a mediator.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer loyalty play an essential part in ensuring sustainable operations and long-term development of intercity bus companies. This paper proposes a new research model to examine how CSR affects customer loyalty in intercity bus services and how it interacts with service quality, corporate image and customer satisfaction in affecting customer loyalty. An empirical study on a leading intercity bus company in Taiwan is conducted to test the research model, using structural equation modeling. The study finds that CSR has an indirect effect on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through corporate image and customer satisfaction respectively as a mediator. In particular, a new finding of the study highlights the importance of the mediating role played by corporate image in enhancing the effect of CSR on customer loyalty. The research findings provide useful insights into how intercity bus companies should develop a CSR policy that would enhance corporate image and customer satisfaction, consequently leading to customer loyalty.