Investigating marketing factors that influence customer loyalty in the sports betting industry

Abstract

This study was motivated by the current lack of empirical evidence to prove the relationship between factors influencing customer loyalty in the sports betting industry. The researcher was interested in investigating customer loyalty factors (bookmaker trust, effective complaints handling, loyalty programmes, effective communication, and customer satisfaction) that might have led to the uneven distribution of the market share among bookmkers in Gauteng. A quantitative research approach was employed and the convenience sampling method used for this study comprised respondents that were provided on a database by Osmoz Consulting. A total of 385 valid responses from participants aged between 18 to 65 were collected using an online questionnaire and all racial groups were included regardless of their gender. A descriptive and standard multiple regression directed on IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. This study found that all the five factors have a significant positive influence on customer loyalty. However, trust and effective complaints handling were the main factors influencing customer loyalty. Bookmakers are encouraged to focus on improving trust and ensuring effective handling of complaints. Management in the sports betting industry should invest more effort in ensuring that complaints are effectively handled, and trust between bookmakers and bettors is greatly improved. This research was done in Gauteng only and this is the main limitation to this study.