Unlike many Western countries where retail banking markets can be characterised by longterm
customer relationships with their chosen banks, customers in Eastern Europe are ready
to collaborate with several banks at the same time or switch to a different retail banking
service provider more frequently. Thus, the retail banking market in Eastern Europe faces
new challenges in terms of customer loyalty. In this study, we test the commitment – customer
loyalty link in the retail banking market across three customer groups segmented on the basis
of customer profitability in an Eastern European country. Our results suggest a positive
effect of commitment on loyalty in all three different customer segments and we find that
customer profitability moderates the commitment - loyalty relationship in the context of retail
financial services.