Cultural Identity, Quality Trust, and Customer Loyalty in Regional Agricultural Brands: The Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction and Moderating Role of Switching Cost — Evidence from Gannan Navel Orange
Regional agricultural brands are critical for rural revitalization, but sustaining customer loyalty is hindered by challenges like low repurchase rates and the "satisfaction paradox". This study investigates customer loyalty formation in such brands, using Gannan navel orange (a representative Chinese geographical indication product) to examine how cultural identity and quality trust influence loyalty, with customer satisfaction as a mediator and switching cost as a moderator. Data from 343 Jiangxi Province consumers were collected via mixed sampling during Gannan navel orange’s peak season (October 2024–January 2025), analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show cultural identity (β = 0.42, p < 0.01) and quality trust (β = 0.38, p < 0.01) positively affect customer satisfaction, which strongly predicts loyalty (β = 0.75, p < 0.001) and fully mediates both relationships (cultural identity: indirect effect = 0.32, VAF = 76.2%; quality trust: indirect effect = 0.28, VAF = 73.7%). Switching cost significantly moderates the satisfaction-loyalty link (β = 0.18, p < 0.05), with a stronger effect in the high-cost group (β = 0.86) than the low-cost group (β = 0.65). The study contributes theoretically by proposing a dual-driven framework integrating cultural and quality factors, clarifying satisfaction’s mediating role and switching cost’s moderating effect. Practically, it offers strategies for enhancing loyalty, including strengthening cultural narratives, quality assurance, and leveraging switching cost in marketing.