Explaining the Relationship between Female Customers' Online Flow State and Loyalty Through their Smart Phone Addiction and Brand Experience

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between female customers’ online flow state and loyalty and the mediating roles of their smartphone addiction and brand experience in this mechanism. To achieve this purpose, data were collected from 507 female customers in Türkiye through a questionnaire survey and analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique. The findings indicated that brand experience mediated the relationship between online flow experience and customer loyalty. Additionally, smartphone addiction mediated the relationship between brand experience and customer loyalty. The analysis revealed that while online flow state significantly influenced brand experience, its direct effect on customer loyalty was insignificant. Moreover, the study identified that smartphone addiction plays a critical role in shaping customer loyalty, especially among young female users. These results emphasize the importance of designing ethical marketing strategies that enhance brand experience while considering the potential risks of smartphone addiction. This study contributes to the literature by being one of the first to examine these variables in an integrated model within the mobile commerce context.