Causal Relationship between Market Orientation and Customer Loyalty with the Mediating Role of Service Quality (Providing a Model for Body Building Clubs)

The study is to determine the causal relationship between market orientation and customer loyalty in terms of the mediating role of service quality in Tehran's fitness clubs. The method of this research was correlation-survey and was a type of applied research that was carried out in the field. The statistical population included all the people who visited the sports clubs of Tehran. According to Morgan table and random sampling, 384 people were selected as the sample of the study. Data were collected by Alper & Associates (2006), Kuw and Kwan Quality of Service Questionnaire (2006) and Dehdashti et al. Customer Loyalty Questionnaire (2012). These questionnaires were approved in terms of formal and content validity. Using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability of the questionnaire was 0/83, the service quality questionnaire was 0/79 and customer loyalty was 0/88. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics such as table, graph, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics of slip and elongation test, Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation model were used.  The results showed that the customer orientation component had a direct and indirect relationship with customer loyalty through the quality of service intermediary variable. Also, this component was significant between the competitor's tendency toward customer loyalty directly and indirectly through the quality of service mediation variable. The component of the market environment was directly and indirectly related through the mediating variable of service quality with customer loyalty.  Based on the results of the structural equation model, the main model of the research was fitted out and service quality as an intermediary variable was able to mediate between market orientation and customer loyalty, which attracted the effects of market orientation and then transferred it to customer loyalty.