Understanding the relationships among internal marketing practices, job satisfaction, service quality and customer satisfaction: an empirical investigation of Saudi Arabia’s service employees

The objective of this study is to develop and validate a conceptual model that integrates the relationships among internal marketing (IM) practices, employee satisfaction, service quality, and customer satisfaction in the context of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from managers of 156 service firms and 318 service employees. The results indicate that employees’ perceptions of IM practices (i.e. supportive leadership, information and communication, and adequate award) were positively related to employee satisfaction. Surprisingly, training and development, which is one of the dimensions of IM practices, was not a significant factor for employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction was positively related to service quality, which may lead to customer satisfaction, supporting the mediating role of service quality on the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.