Black Friday rituals, customer perceived value and loyalty among young adult customers in South Africa: A Stimulus-Organism-Response perspective

The study explores the nexus of relationship between Black Friday rituals, customer value and customer loyalty among young adult customers in South Africa. A descriptive research design was followed and data were collected from 400 young adult customers aged 18-35 in the Gauteng province of South Africa through self-administered questionnaires. Furthermore, the measurement and structural models were assessed using Amos 23.0. Relational capital and social influence significantly and positively influence customer-perceived value, while customer-perceived value significantly and positively influences the customer loyalty of young adult customers towards Black Friday rituals. The testing of the proposed model validates the relationships that are hypothesised between the independent variables (cognitive capital, relational capital, social identification, social influence, social convenience), customer-perceived value and customer loyalty of young adult customers. The findings assist retailers in understanding how relational capital and social influence can strengthen the perceived value perception of young adult customers towards Black Friday rituals, leading to customer loyalty. The study focused on the customer loyalty of young adult customers of Black Friday rituals and determined the interrelationships of the extent to which they encounter customer-perceived value and related constructs. However, a limited number of studies have examined how the Stimulus-Organism-Response theory is applied to customer-perceived value and customer loyalty from an emerging African market perspective.