Does the Firms Mimetic Motives Affect the Customers Self-Determination Motivation?: A Cross-Level Integrative Perspective

Firms under pressure are motivated to mimic, such an imitation, whether it can affect customers self-identification process, and thus enhance customer loyalty, it has rarely been explored. Based on the concept of mimetic motives and Self-Determination Theory, the moderation effect of insurance companies mimetic motives to customers SDT can be investigated. Data are obtained from 289 customers and 30 team managers of an insurance company in Taiwan. A two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is adopted to examine the relationships between team managers and customers, appropriately adjusted for a nested structure. The empirical results of this study indicate that the moderation effect of mimetic motives on SDT to loyalty is significant and positive, suggesting that institutional processes are also an important factor in consumers behavior. This study has provided insights into marketing practices that self-determined motivation dominates the mediating mechanism between satisfaction and loyalty.