INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD

In an increasingly competitive retail environment, service differentiation has become a critical determinant of organizational performance, particularly in emerging economies such as India. As retail offerings become more standardized, the quality of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers plays a decisive role in shaping customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study examines the impact of employee prosocial service behaviour—defined as voluntary, discretionary actions undertaken by employees to benefit customers—on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the Indian retail sector. Primary data were collected from 200 retail customers using a structured questionnaire measuring dimensions such as courtesy, empathy, helpfulness, and responsiveness. The study employs reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate that employee prosocial service behaviour has a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction, which in turn significantly influences customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction is also found to partially mediate the relationship between employee prosocial service behaviour and customer loyalty. The findings highlight the strategic importance of human-centric service practices in retailing and provide actionable insights for retail managers seeking to enhance customer relationships and long-term loyalty.