Dealer loyalty and brand loyalty: United or divided?

This study is an effort to shed light on the relationship between dealership loyalty and brand loyalty. The research questions posed in this study: What effect do dealership loyalty and brand loyalty have on consumer’s intention to switch brands? Are consumers more loyal to the dealer or to the actual brand they purchase at the dealership? An automotive dealership group located in the Midwestern US allowed the researchers to survey its customers. Findings of this study demonstrated the higher the brand loyalty of the consumer, the lower the likelihood to switch brands. The higher the dealership loyalty of the consumer the higher the likelihood to switch brands. Brand loyalty appears to be more important than dealer loyalty. Brand loyalty and dealer loyalty are complementary at lower levels of likelihood to switch brands and are less complementary at medium to high levels of likelihood to switch brands.