Perception as a mediator between service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty: evidence from savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) in Uganda
Loading...
Date
2026-01-14
Authors
Sandra Esagala;
Peter Dithan Ntale
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis group
Abstract
savings and credit cooperatives (saccOs) in Uganda continue to face challenges infostering and sustaining member loyalty despite ongoing improvements in servicequality. Persistent member turnover, limited trust and weak relational bonds raisequestions about how service quality and satisfaction translate into enduring loyalty.this study examined the mediating role of customer perception in the relationshipsamong service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in Ugandan saccOs.guided by expectation confirmation theory (ect), a cross-sectional quantitative designwas employed using 384 distributed questionnaires, of which 196 were valid. Data wereanalyzed using correlation, hierarchical regression and mediation techniques. resultsrevealed significant positive associations among all key variables and confirmed thatcustomer perception partially mediates the effects of both service quality andsatisfaction on loyalty, accounting for 27.9% of the variance in the outcome variable.these findings highlight that while service quality directly influences loyalty, much ofits impact operates through members’ cognitive evaluations of fairness, value and trust.the study contributes to the service quality–loyalty literature by positioning perceptionas a critical cognitive mechanism in cooperative finance. in practice, it proposes aperception-centered framework for strengthening trust and loyalty through transparentcommunication, responsive service delivery and technology-driven solutions, includingmobile banking and digital service platforms, to enhance the member experience andinstitutional resilience.
Description
Keywords
customer perceptions, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, Uganda, saccOs
Citation
Esagala, S., & Ntale, P. D. (2026). Perception as a mediator between service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty: evidence from savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) in Uganda. Cogent Business & Management, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2026.2613583