The Role of Employee's Innovative Behavior in Strengthening the Impact of Customer Participation on Customer Engagement

Given the intensive rivalry in the service industry, customer engagement has become a vital concern for the banking sector. This study investigates to what extent do customer participation (CP) impacts customer engagement through the mediating role of employee's innovative behavior. The authors put forward and test a theoretical framework of direct and indirect effects of CP on customer engagement via employee innovative behavior (EIB). Hypothetically, CP coupled with EIB is likely to influence customer engagement (CE). Empirical results based on a sample of 336 customers in Egyptian banks proved that customer engagement composed of three main dimensions: affective, cognitive, and behavioral. In addition, the findings support the hypotheses. Results also indicate that CP provides a basis for EIB and CE. Thus, the authors conjecture that CP and EIB improve customer engagement. Accordingly, they encourage Egyptian banks to cultivate their CP for harnessing their EIB in order to boost CE in the long run.