Online customer relationship marketing tactics through social media and perceived customer retention orientation of the green retailer

Purpose - Despite the importance of incorporating social media with customer relationship management (CRM), the implementation of social CRM is still in its initial stages for a majority of green brands. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether consumers' perception-based factors of the online CRM tactics through social media (i.e. perceived marketer-dominated information quality, perceived interaction quality, and perceived service content quality in social media) offered by the green brand were related to the perceived customer retention orientation (CRO) of the green fashion retailer, which was related to patronage intention towards the green retailer, and the moderating effect of green consciousness on the link between perceived CRO of the green retailer and patronage intention. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from social media users (n = 631) using a consumer panel via an online survey. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the proposed model and research hypotheses. Findings - This study found that the perceived CRO of the green retailer was positively related to patronage intention. The perceived marketer-dominated information quality and perceived service content quality in social media were positively related to the perceived CRO of the green retailer. Green consciousness moderated the link between perceived CRO and patronage intention. Originality/value - First, this study contributes to the further theoretical understanding of the underlying factors that influence customer perception of the CRO of the green retailer and green patronage intention. Second, on a managerial level, this proposed model provides green retailers with beneficial insights into the development of successful social CRM.