The influence of internal brand management and brand citizenship behaviour on customer satisfaction and customer citizenship behaviour: A multi-level analysis

Aim: Employees and customers alike can benefit from internal brand management initiatives that encourage exemplary behaviour towards the brand. Examining its impact on brand citizenship behaviour (BCB) is important since dedicated employees are an important resource for any organization. This study explored the theories of internal brand management and brand citizenship behaviour and their impacts on customer satisfaction and customer citizenship behaviour. Methodology: The results from several levels are presented in this multi-level analysis using data on 204 employees and 328 customers from three well-known banks in Cameroon. The interrelationships between these concepts were examined with the support of structural equation modelling and multi-level analysis. Results: Out of the seven propositions, except for the fifth, and seventh, all proved correct and were confirmed. The findings showed that internal brand communication positively affected both employee brand commitment and IBM's relationship with employee brand citizenship behaviour. Additionally, customer-level studies show that brand citizenship behaviour correlates favourably with customer satisfaction and positively but not significantly with customer citizenship behaviour. Implications and recommendations: This research reveal that internal branding management is important for achieving outcomes such as customer citizenship behaviour (CCB) and brand citizenship behaviour (BCB) among banking sector employees and customers, which is useful information for management. Furthermore, executives in the banking industry should prioritise internal branding management and work to strengthen it. Finally, it is well known that satisfied customers are more likely to be loyal to the brand, and this study's results lend credence to the idea that internal brand management initiatives can help foster brand citizenship behaviour. Originality/value: The study applied a multi-level view of customer satisfaction and used an original framework that included the following aspects: conception, measurement, and explanatory impact of the effectiveness of internal brand management, and brand and customer citizenship behaviour.