The Role Of Consumer Satisfaction, Involvement, And Engagement On Consumer Loyalty In The Telecommunication Industry Among Nigerian University Students

Consumer loyalty is a global issue that most companies are trying to solve. The market nowadays offers consumers a wide range of products and brands to choose from. Consumption has reached a point where consumers have too many options. Thus, understanding consumer purchasing patterns requires involvement and engagement. In today's business world, the business firm must preserve, sustain, and nurture its customer base to enjoy a competitive advantage in the marketplace. This study examines Nigerian telecom customers' satisfaction, involvement, engagement, and loyalty, using 386 students from two universities in Lagos state, which comprise both males and females’ students of the institutions. The hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation at .001 significance level. The result shows that consumer satisfaction, involvement and engagement help a business concentrate on a particular type of relationship that builds a powerful consumer company connection. From the perspective of the industry, the research has shown that consumer satisfaction, involvement and engagement are one of the key strategies of attaining lasting consumer connection and loyalty. Hence, it was concluded that one of the conditions of true customer loyalty is total satisfaction that is consistent across different angles of industries. As an implication, operators need to promote consumer involvement and be committed to providing reliable services to subscribers, as satisfaction is not only the primary predictor of consumer loyalty.


Introduction
Many academics and experts around the world have emphasized the significance of customers.Companies in the telecommunications sector, for example, have long relied on customer loyalty as a key measure of their marketing success (Yoo et al., 2020).Organizational financial performance is frequently correlated with customer loyalty since it plays a critical role in retaining and expanding revenues (Mahfouz & Muhumed, 2020).Since acquiring new customers is at least five times more expensive than keeping current ones, customer loyalty is critical to increasing sales and profitability (Manavi & Malini, 2021).As a result of its importance to organizations, customer loyalty has garnered a lot of marketing attention (Wu & Cheng, 2018).
Customer loyalty is a long-term asset and a vital business consequence (Wu et al., 2021).To build long-term competitive advantages, many businesses consider having a strong customer base to be a necessary option (Wu et al., 2021).Building and maintaining a customer base is critical to the success of any business.If a company can consistently meet the needs of its consumers, it may be certain that it has been able to achieve customer satisfaction, which is one of the most significant criteria in making a customer a long-term customer.
When it comes to many businesses, customers are seen as a vital part of the equation.This is the primary reason why most organisations place such an emphasis on ensuring their customers are satisfied (Anil & Satish, 2019).Satisfaction is an overall customer attitude or behaviour toward a service provider or an emotional reaction to the gap between what customers expect and what they receive, addressing the fulfilment of some desire, need, or objective (Jabbar et al., 2019).Customers are said to be satisfied when their expectations of a product or service are met or exceeded during the actual consuming experience (Jahmani et al., 2020).To put it another way, customer satisfaction can be defined as the difference between the customer's pre-consumption expectations and their post-consumption experiences.
The responsibility is therefore on business corporations and establishments to invest time in understanding consumer, and their consumption patterns given that, they are more elastic and agile.As a result, one imperative facet of understanding consumer's consumption patterns is the idea of involvement (Kang et al., 2020).Some categories of consumers can be described as having inadequate and restricted information processing which when coupled with low physical effort on the part of the consumer outcomes is what is been described as low involvement behaviour (Thakur, 2018).When the opposite of the low involvement scenario discussed above occurs, it is termed as high involvement.Involvement behaviour means that the consumer can process and accomplish a widespread rational information quest (Martínez et al., 2021).
Customer engagement on the other hand is a combination of psychological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses to a specific brand.Customer engagement (CE) as opposed to involvement suggests a deeper relationally based level and, consequently occupies a vital place in contributing to the management grasp of customer aftermaths, specifically loyalty-connected effects (Susanti et al., 2021).Engaged people are those who are focused on a single object and are therefore more likely to be attracted to (or rejected by) a marketing message.When value is added or subtracted from a target, an individual's focus shifts toward or away from that target.
Competitive advantage in business world requires that businesses have an ability to maintain, sustain, and nurture their customer base (Justin & Joy, 2019).This is one of the reasons why consumer involvement, satisfaction, and engagement have been emphasized and underlined in the literature.For instance, consumer satisfaction is an important factor in customer loyalty, but Zhou et al., (2019) found that 79 percent of customers who said they were very satisfied with their current mobile phone company admitted that if there were other phone service providers offering better deals than their current provider, they would switch.These conclusions cannot be applied to the Nigerian business environment, which is characterized by a wide range of social, economic, and cultural factors that make it impossible to forecast the outcomes here.
In August 2001, Nigeria's telecommunications business was transformed by the introduction of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).It allowed most Nigerians to get access to telephones.While this is the case, GSM services have been criticized for a variety of reasons, including high prices, call droppage, severe network congestion, incorrect billings, poor signal quality, call jamming, speech breakages, speech echoes, delays, or non-delivery of text messages after necessary charges have been deducted, and a general lack of service (CPC, 2010).The Consumer Protection Council (CPC, 2010) stated that even though GSM has been extremely beneficial to consumers and the economy, its operations have been clouded in controversy.It was found that despite the fast growth of the Nigerian GSM market (NCC, 2006), the industry has lagged other industries in terms of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The economy is supposed to shift in a positive direction for any country to attain national development.The telecoms industry's service quality is an important strategic consideration in meeting these demands (Oshionebe et al., 2004).Nigeria's telecommunications market is very competitive, with many players (MTN, Airtel, Glo, and Etisalat).Operators must understand the antecedents of client loyalty to deliver better services and acquire a competitive edge.However, while some studies (Afthanorhan et al. 2019, Kesinro et al. 2019) have shown that customer satisfaction is a key factor in customer loyalty, others (Oblander and colleagues, 2020) have shown that in some industries customer satisfaction is not enough to ensure customer loyalty.Medjedel and Sakouchi (2021) recommended for further empirical research in different service environments on the relationship between customer loyalty and its antecedents.
It is not surprising that a formidable body of work on consumer involvement and engagement is fast developing, even in emergent economies and global marketplaces, nevertheless, according to Islam et al., (2019) research is still in its early stages.Researchers have made credible and laudable attempts at instructing and providing illumination on the effective application of consumer involvement and engagement strategies (Lim & Kim 2020).However, most studies are observed to be illustrative or theoretical in nature with much of the research preferences taking its bearing from management practice rather than academic research (Gong & Yi, 2021); Kaur et al., 2020).In its basic form, a consumer involvement and engagement research such as this is needed across a wide array of service settings and the outcome of this study is projected to contribute more empirically to advancing and promoting academic and applied conception of the consumer engagement processes.
In essence, customer loyalty is critical to any organization's long-term viability and is especially important in the mobile phone sector.As a result, having a firm grasp on and understanding of the key constructs is deemed essential.To meet this demand, researchers, academics, and industry actors are working to identify the antecedents of consumer loyalty to put this information to good use.There can be an argument made that if customer expectations are fulfilled or exceeded (customer satisfaction) by the company and customers show loyalty by repurchasing the brand in question, then the customer is likely to make a repurchasing decision in the future.Thus, while numerous literatures have lent support to this argument on the effect of the former on the later, see for instance, (Odulami & Mathew, 2015), this remains a contentious issue within the Nigerian mobile telecommunication industry.There are many variables that influence customer loyalty, and this study aims to understand how these three factors (consumer satisfaction, involvement, and engagement) interact to influence customer loyalty.

Concept of Customer Loyalty
As a result of the concept of consumer behaviour, customer loyalty has emerged (Urdea & Constantin, 2021).Customer loyalty, as defined by Kapferer (2012), is the level of attachment customers show when using or purchasing specific brands.It is said that customer loyalty arises when a customer buys the same brand of goods or services rather than other brands, as per Akpoviroro et al. (2020).Several researchers (Handoyo et al., 2022;Purani et al., 2019) claim that customer loyalty involves customers' commitment to make repeat purchases from the same service provider and recommend the product to family and friends.Research by (Yatundu et al., 2019) found that customer loyalty is critical for fast-moving consumer goods in an era of globalization.
According to (Tariq et al., 2020), customer loyalty is "a strongly held commitment to purchase or patronize a preferred product or service repeatedly in the future," which results in customers repeatedly buying the same brand or brand set despite contextual influences and marketing efforts that might lead them to switch brands.Alternatively, a loyal client is one who has purchased a product from the same brand multiple times and has no interest in other brands' pricing, product quality, or promotional activity.These customers are defined as "loyal" in the context of this study because they tend to stick with their current service provider even when they are offered discounts, free airtime, bonanza, and other promotional offers by rival mobile telecommunications companies.
Replicate business and word-of-mouth marketing are both facilitated by satisfied customers (Umar 2018).As competition in the telecommunications market grows fiercer, retaining clients has become the most important priority (Azemi & Romle, 2020;Lee, 2021).As a result, customer loyalty is the process through which a consumer buys items or services from the same company repeatedly and is willing to maintain a long-term relationship with the company (Chigwende, 2021).

Customer Satisfaction
It was in the 1950s that a growing interest in consumer behavior led to the birth of the term "customer satisfaction" (Prayag et al., 2019).To achieve customer retention, a company must be able to satisfy the desires of their customers (Al-Suraihi et al., 2020).Customer satisfaction is defined as a "person's feeling of pleasure or displeasure because of comparing this product published performance in relation to its expectations " (Rohman et al., 2022).If the service does not meet the consumer's expectations, customer is more likely to complain and switch to a competitor.On the other hand, a satisfied customer is more likely to engage positive word of mouth and recommend the service to others (Dawi, et al., 2018).Satisfaction, according to Ardy and Perdhana (2020), is a combination of the product's perceived performance and the customer's hopes.Customers are displeased if their expectations are not met.The customer is satisfied if the product meets his or her expectations.The customer will be happy and satisfied if it exceeds their expectations.
In addition, according to Surendran and Acharya (2021), a company's profitability and long-term success are directly linked to its ability to satisfy its customers.According to Othman et al. (2020), customers who are satisfied with a company's products or services are more likely to buy from it again in the future, making customer satisfied is an increasingly important competitive strategy for many businesses (Duong & Nguyen, 2022).
Many different definitions have been used to describe customer satisfaction.There is a difference in customer satisfaction between tangible goods and services.According to Hayati et al., (2020), customer satisfaction is defined as the whole consumer's attitude toward the service provider.In other words, customers' perceptions of the product's or service's real performance are used to determine if they are satisfied with the product or service's performance as defined by other researchers (Yuan et al., 2019).Consumer loyalty to a company is mostly based on customer satisfaction (Wiardi et al., 2020).Customers who are satisfied with a company's products or services are more likely to return for more and to suggest the company's products and services to their friends and family (Kadhim et al., 2021).

Relationship Between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty
The relationship between consumer satisfaction and loyalty is a complex one contrary to many literary academic works.This is because most researchers confuse repeat purchasing behavior with brand loyalty.For instance, according to Aneeshkumar (2021) brand loyalty is the level of commitment a customer has towards a brand when he or she repurchases from the brand.However, Sudari et al., (2019) expressed brand loyalty as a kind of commitment to a certain brand that inspires customers to re-purchase from the brand in the mist of fierce competition between other brands who intend to discontinue the coalition between the brand and the customers through marketing strategies.
As a result, the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has been examined in academic literature and the services marketing sector.According to Nalendra (2020), one of the requirements for true customer loyalty is complete satisfaction.Asnawi, Sukoco, and Fanani (2019) further argue that customer loyalty is influenced both directly and indirectly by the quality and value of the products and services offered to them, and that this in turn affects their level of satisfaction, which in turn influences their level of loyalty.It is in enterprises' best interest to keep their consumers pleased so that they can retain their loyalty, according to Amoakoh, Chipunza, and Iwuchukwu (2019), there is a strong correlation between customer satisfaction and consumer loyalty.Several studies held the belief that customer pleasure had a direct impact on customer loyalty and thus profitability.Recent research has attempted to examine why, by including additional antecedents, moderator and mediator variables between satisfaction and loyalty such as personal characteristics (Menidjel et al., 2020), social norms (Samudro et al., 2019), corporate image, commitment (Nyadzayo, Leckie & Johnson, 2020), trust and value (Gidaković & Zabkar, (2021), elaboration (Dam & Dam, 2021), and intention (Yoo & Kim, 2020).
The results of a study titled "influence of customer satisfaction," "customer trust," and "customer feedback on customer loyalty to the Suzuki vehicle firm" were used by Hasfar, Militina, and Achmad (2020) as evidence that customer satisfaction has a positive and significant impact on loyalty.It was found that customer satisfaction has a considerable impact on customer loyalty according to Wulur, Militina, and Achmad (2020) in their study entitled "impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty" in the Banking Sector.In addition, both academics and practitioners agreed that customer satisfaction is a significant precursor to customer loyalty (Budur & Poturak, 2021).
No service firm can exist without satisfied customer, (Yeohan, 2019).Loyalty is built on customer satisfaction.This is disputed by Saroha and Diwan (2020), who say greater prices and service performance from competitors could break down consumer loyalty and that there is no guarantee of ultimate customer loyalty.Another argument made by Wahyono and Nurjanah (2020); Lubbe and Duh (2020) was that being satisfied is not the same as being loyal, and that the two ideas are determined by distinct factors.
According to Dewi et al., (2021), there was a positive correlation between the two ideas, with an improvement in customer satisfaction likely leading to an increase in customer loyalty.When Putit and Abdullah (2019) conducted research on Malaysia's telecommunications industry, they found that customer satisfaction can mediate between (value, service quality, positive brand image, price perception and switching cost) on the one hand as well as customer loyalty among Swedish mobile telecommunication subscribers on the other.Overall, consumers satisfaction and loyalty were found to be directly correlated.
Customers' perceptions of service quality, trust, and customer satisfaction in Bangladesh's telecommunication business were examined by Syahputra and Murwatiningsih (2019) among ( 271) subscribers of a large private telecommunication provider in the country.Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty were found to be positively and significantly connected with the level of service provided.Customers' satisfaction and service quality aspects were found to have the strongest link with customer loyalty when they were treated as independent variables in a model.Customer satisfaction is critical to retaining customers in the face of positive service quality perceptions, therefore this shows a mediating effect, according to the study's authors.The company's recommendation was to put more emphasis on enhancing customer satisfaction through better service quality and, as a result, growing client loyalty.
In a bid to clarify the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty by Asnawi, Sukoco and Fanani (2019); convenience sampling was used to select the 147 Iranian bank customers who completed a self-administered structured questionnaire that measured service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, as well as the relationship between these three variables in a bid to better understand the relationship between these three variables.Research shows that customer satisfaction is a key mediator between service quality and customers' loyalty, according to regression analysis results, customers who are satisfied with the quality of the service they receive are more likely to become repeat customers.There are several flaws in this study, such as the use of 147 respondents from a limitless consumer population and the convenience sampling approach employed in selecting the respondents.Consequently, the findings cannot be generalized to the entire research population.
Customer satisfaction and customer retention were evaluated in the context of customer loyalty among customers of four mobile telecommunications firms, all of whom were students at different institutions across Pakistan, in a study done by Devi and Yasa (2021).To select the 86 participants, convenience sample approach was used, and the responses were generated by sending out a format questionnaire through email and conducting in-person interviews.It was shown that customer satisfaction had a positive, strong, and substantial correlation with the level of customer loyalty in an upward trend.Although client retention had a small impact on the model, it was found to be inconsequential.Organizations need to understand that if they do not keep their customers satisfied, they will eventually switch.
Customers' contentment and loyalty in Indonesian restaurants were found to be statistically linked, as was the case with Maisya, Rahmat, and Rina (2019).Starbucks consumers' satisfaction is linked to their loyalty in a recent study by Maniam and Annamalai (2019) among Starbucks customers in Taiwan.
In contrast, Zhou et al., (2019) used a survey of 228 self-administered structured questionnaires on mobile phone users of various ages to determine the importance and repercussions of satisfaction in Bahrain's competitive telecom market.When it comes to customer satisfaction, 79 percent of customers who said they were very satisfied with their current mobile phone company admitted that if there were other phone service providers who were offering better deals than their current provider, they would switch, according to their findings.Despite this, it is impossible to generalize these findings to the Nigerian business environment, which is characterized by a variety of social, economic, and cultural elements, making it difficult to predict the results here.

Consumer Involvement
Two distinct levels of consumer involvement are emerging: high involvement and low involvement (Arora et al., 2019;Hollebeek and Srivastava, 2022).High and low involved consumers were categorized based on how their thinking was influenced by the way they absorbed and assimilated information.Consumers with a high level of interest in a product will actively seek out additional information and specifics and will base their purchasing decision on a variety of factors and considerations.Their knowledge of alternative products and hard-to-change attitudes made it difficult for them to change.
Involvement is considered by Pansari and Kumar (2018) as a motivating factor for customers to seek knowledge to manage any potential risks while making decisions about purchases.It is not uncommon for this risk management to occur prior to purchases, which is why consumer loyalty is preceded by their involvement.Leong et al., 2019 claims that consumers who have a high level of participation always think about the risk when making purchases.Low-involvement consumers are more likely to search for information about a product passively and evaluate fewer characteristics of the product when deciding whether to purchase it (Arora et al., 2019;Hollebeek and Srivastava, 2022).Researchers have diverse ideas on what it means to be involved with the consumer.Consumer involvement, as defined by Calvo-Porral et al., (2021), is the degree to which a person's requirements, values, and interests are taken into consideration while evaluating a product.For Sharma (2020), a situation where consumers are actively involved can be leveraged to gain insight into how they feel about a product or service.To put it another way: Hollebeek and Srivastava (2022) describe consumer involvement as an unobservable state of motivation, elicited by some external stimuli or circumstances, with qualities that drive the behaviour of the consumer.It affects the way people seek, absorb information, and make decisions.It can be concluded that consumer involvement refers to a person's motivation to execute information retrieval, processing, and decision-making regarding a product or brand that is to be consumed.

Relationship Between Consumer Involvement and Consumer Loyalty
Involvement of the consumer has a significant impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.This is due to the impact of consumer evaluations both before and after the product is used (pre-and post-usage) (Ofosu-Boateng & Agyei, 2020).To ensure that they make the appropriate purchase decision, someone with a high level of involvement will review the product before ingesting it (Leong et al., 2019;Ahsan, 2019).Service provider-customer relationships have seen significant transformations in recent decades, particularly since the advent of the networked world (Hollebeek et al., 2019).Customers' involvement techniques, which can lead to value co-creation, have long fascinated marketing scholars and practitioners (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).The process of building a closer bond with customers to win their loyalty is known as "customer involvement" (Ho & Chung, 2020).From passive recipients to crucial co-creators of customer values (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016), as well as key contributors to company value and performance (Ajina, 2019), customers' responsibilities have evolved (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016).Better customer experiences, improved profitability, and customer loyalty can all be achieved by greater involvement with and participation from the company's customers (Hapsari et al., 2020).
Consumer involvement has been an important variable in consumer research (Leong, Syuhaily & Laily, 2017).According to Basile (2019) involvement is an expression of the how important a product decision is to an individual and that involvement could influence the value system, goals, and self-perception of a person.Involvement has also been expressed to be an unobservable condition of motivation, interest or arousal towards consumption of a product category (Menidjel et al., 2020).Involvement is also a defining characteristic of consumer attitude which is the most important predictor of behavior.Cheung Pires, and Rosenberger III, (2020) argued that involvement is in three categories they are situational involvement, enduring involvement, and response involvement.Some of the fields that involvement has been utilized widely in literature is in market segmentation planning, advertising, and consumer behavior.
According to Arslan and Altuna, (2019) the concept of involvement has been identified to be multi-dimensional.Five dimensions, including interest/importance, hedonic (pleasure), sign, risk likelihood, and risk importance, are proposed by Laurent and Kapferer (1985) as constituting the customer involvement profile (CIP) scale.The question now is how involvement influences a consumer's loyalty to a brand.It is probably because involvement is a significant antecedent of consumer satisfaction.According to Biswas et al., (2020), as a consumer's involvement heightens, the consumers tend to be engaged into a degree of satisfaction based on performance and is likely to experience a greater level of satisfaction.Gendel-Guterman, (2019), argued that involvement may be a predictor, a motivational mediator, and a moderator in the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase loyalty.This is because satisfaction has been found to have a low correlation with Loyalty or repurchase behavior.
According to Kanje et al., (2020) research on the hotel sector, customer involvement increases the conversion of browsers to purchasers and may also help businesses acquire greater insight into their enterprises.It is imperative that the hospitality industry champions techniques that enhance consumer involvement beyond transactions to maintain and grow its market share (Kanje et al., 2020).Leong, Syuhaily, et al., (2017) found a significant relationship between consumer involvement, consumer engagement and consumer Loyalty in Malaysian tourism industry; they also argued that engagement is appropriate if viewed from affective, behavioural, and cognitive perspectives.Also, Arslan and Altuna (2019) study found that there is a significant relationship between attitudinal loyalty and purchase loyalty although the former is seen to be an explanatory variable.
Studies have demonstrated that customer involvement has a favorable effect on customer loyalty (Harrigan et al., 2017;Monferrer et al., 2019).Some researchers feel that customer involvement changes based on the scenario, the originator, or the consumer category (Al-Dmour, Ali & Al-Dmour, 2019; Andrews et al., 2019).It has been found that customer involvement is a key aspect in determining customer loyalty.There has been little scrutiny of the customer involvement mechanism in the telecommunications sector (Kanje et al., 2020).Consequently, the current study addresses a gap in our understanding of the relationship between customer involvement and customer loyalty.

Consumer Engagement
Customers' emotional attachment to a service or brand is referred to as CE, which is a psychological process that helps them become loyal to the brand or service they first encountered (Bowden & Mirzaei, 2021).An affective and cognitive concept (Bilro & Loureiro, 2020;Razmus et al., 2020) and a psychological state (Bilro & Loureiro, 2020).Constantly focusing on a customer's mental state does not distinguish CE from other constructs, such as service attachment and brand connection.As a result, the behavioural perspective of CE describes it as a customer's behavioural manifestations that have a brand or business focus beyond the purchase, coming from motivating drivers (So & Li 2020).These customers may be overvalued as engaged because this perspective is devoid of the brand's attitude, which can be due to habit or any other external factors.CE has taken the definition from (Rather & Sharma, 2019) to mean a customer's (or a potential customer's) involvement and connections with a brand or company's offerings or activities that go beyond a purchase and often involve other people in the social network built around the service, brand, offering, or activity.
A person's level of consciousness, passionate engagement, and social connection are all aspects of CE.Conscious attention is the degree of interest that a person has or wishes to have in the focal object of their involvement.Excited participation describes the enthusiastic reaction and sensations a person has when engaging with the focused object of attention.Social connection, on the other hand, refers to a mutual or reciprocal activity toward the focal object in the presence of others, enhancing the contact with the focal object.

Relationship Between Consumer Engagement and Consumer Loyalty
There has been a lot of research done on the importance of customer engagement in fostering brand loyalty in the tourism industry.When it comes to creating customer loyalty, Dhasan and Aryupong (2019) found that customer engagement enhances customers' service brand rating, trust in the brand, and loyalty to the company.As a result, service brand loyalty can be bolstered both during and after the service contact.
Susanti, Rafika and Melinda (2021) also carried out a study on a higher-order model of consumer brand engagement and its impact on loyalty intentions.They found that brand engagement exerts a substantial influence on consumer loyalty and satisfaction.Theoretically, the study by Susanti, Rafika and Melinda (2021) offers an all-inclusive multidimensional evaluation of consumer brand engagement and offers insights into key coherent relationships.840 retail customers who shop at lifestyle retailers like shopper's stop were studied by Makudza, (2020) to determine the effect of customer experience on attitudes and behaviour loyalty.They discovered that customer loyalty has two distinct components, each of which has an impact on how much money the customer spends.Consumer engagement was studied by Harrigna et al., (2017), they found a link between customer engagement and brand usage intent.Customers' desire to connect with and use their own brand was found to be a result of CE, according to structural modelling of the data acquired from 195 US-based online participants on Amazon.
A study of client interaction patterns in individualistic and collectivistic markets was conducted by Roy, Gruner, and Guo (2022).Consumer involvement behavior was found to be a higher-order construct with a consistent structure in both developed and developing economies.Also attempts were made by the researcher to understand the results in the light of different cultural context, hence it was discovered that, service fairness had a more robust effect on affective trust in the emerging economies as likened to industrialized economies.This implies that to stimulate consumers in industrialized and emergent markets to be involve and engage, service providers ought to treat and handle consumers justly and equitable by building cognitive and affective trust and understanding how they produce value-in-use.

METHODOLOGY Research Design
A quantitative correlation design was used in this research.The correlational analysis aims to evaluate the relationships between variables and make predictions using them.

Population of the Study
The study was conducted in Lagos State, which is the commercial capital of Nigeria, having the highest number of GSM subscribers.Data was collected from university students from the two government Universities in Lagos state.These Universities include Lagos state University, and University of Lagos.The reason for choosing university students was because they stand as the major users of telecommunication networks who can give a reliable information for the research questions.

Sample and Sampling Technique
Prior to data collection in any project, a sampling design is developed to ensure that a representative sample of a specific population is obtained.Probability sampling was used in this investigation.Using a probability sampling technique enables every element in the study to have a known probability of being selected (Rahi, Alnaser & Abd-Ghani, 2019).This study adopts a multistage random sampling.In a multistage sampling, the units of analysis are selected at different stages.Due to the enormous large population size, the criterion formula used in calculating the minimum requirement for sample for a particular survey design according to Bartlett et al. (2001) was used which is a minimum of 386 for a population more than a million at 95 percent confidence level and 5 percent margin error.The questionnaires were distributed among the selected participants through google form link.

Instrumentation
The study makes use of standardized questionnaires adopted.In other to meet the research objectives of this study.

Questions on consumer Loyalty
The consumer loyalty scale adapted from Dehghan and Shahin, ( 2011) is used to measure consumer loyalty in this study.The consumer Loyalty scale is a 15-item questionnaire measured on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree.The questions were reworded to fit into the context of the study, which involves mobile service providers.

Questions on Consumer Involvement
Consumer engagement in this study is measured using the consumer involvement scale adopted from (Mittal, 1989).The consumer involvement scale is a 7-item scale designed to examine the consumers Purchase decision involvement.The questionnaire is measured on a 5-point scale.Responses are obtained on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree.

Questions on Consumer Engagement
Consumer engagement in this study is measured using the consumer engagement scale adapted from (Bowden, 2011).The consumer engagement scale is a 7-item scale designed specifically to examine the engagement of students as customers.In this study engagement was measured on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree and questions were modified to fit into the context of the study.

Questions on Consumer Satisfaction
Consumer satisfaction in this study is measured using the SERVQUAL questionnaire adapted from Parasuraman et al. (1991).The SERVQUAL is a 5-item questionnaire designed consumer's perception of service quality.The responses for the SERVQUAL questionnaire in this study is obtained using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree.

Research Procedures
An approval to conduct this study was firstly sought from the Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects at Universiti Putra Malaysia.The researcher earlier intention was to collect the data through face to face or physical distribution of questionnaires.But due to the pandemic issues of COVID-19, the researcher had to design a google form link to avoid contacting or spreading the virus and adhere to the rules and regulations of the state.The data collection took four months aided through each school department head, who help distribute the google form link through WhatsApp group of the department.

Data Analysis
The present study uses the Social Science Statistical Package (SPSS) to analyse the data.Data from the field were coded and entered manually with all care in SPSS statistical software.Data transformation and coding were also carried out.Descriptive statistics and analysis of Pearson's correlation were used for data analysis.

Objectives
• To examine the relationship between consumer satisfaction, involvement, and engagement on consumer loyalty in the telecommunication sector among Nigerian university students in Lagos state Nigeria.

Hypothesis
• Ho1: Consumer satisfaction, involvement and engagement has a significant impact on the loyalty of Nigerian university students.

Interpretation and Discussion
As shown in Table 1, on the result of the correlation test between consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty on preferred telecommunication network among Nigerian university students in Lagos state Nigeria showed (r = 0.609, p < 0.01), therefore, H0 is rejected, which implies there is a positive correlation and significant relationship between consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty among Nigerian university students in Lagos state.According to Attar & Sweis (2010), a Pearson correlation coefficient of (0.1 -0.29) indicates a weak association between the two variables.Between (0.3 and 0.49), moderate correlation is indicated, while between (0.5 and 1), high correlation is indicated.In other words, customers satisfaction and loyalty have been found to be highly correlated.In other words, customers who are more satisfied with their primary service provider are more likely to be loyal to them.This result is in congruence with the findings of Devi and Yasa (2021), Maisya, Rahmat and Rina (2019), Maniam and Annamalai (2019) and Zhou et al., (2019), that there is a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
The results show that customer satisfaction has a large and beneficial impact on customer loyalty.According to the findings of this study, delighted customers are more likely to stick with their chosen networks.Analysis of the study shows that customer satisfaction led to loyalty in the Nigerian telecommunications business.The two ideas are intertwined in a constructive way.As a result, consumer loyalty rises because of increased customer satisfaction.Users of telecommunications networks acquire a fondness for their brands, think about their brands, and show loyalty behaviours and intentions toward their brands through satisfaction with these networks.The positive relationship between consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty is supported in the studies on the consumer loyalty (Dewi et al., 2021;Sudari et al., 2019;Yeohan, 2019), and on other service industries (Hasfar et al., 2020;Putit & Abdullah, 2019;Syahputra & Murwatiningsih, 2019;Wulur, Militina & Achmad, 2020).
There is further evidence from studies conducted in Iran by (Asnawi, Sukoco & Fanani, 2019) and in China by (Zhou et al., 2019) to confirm the positive association between satisfaction and future attendance, as well as the positive relationship between satisfaction and recommending service (loyalty as behavioural).The finding of this current study demonstrates that consumers who are satisfied with their overall services experiences are more likely to be loyal to the telecommunication.When consumers are enjoying the services provided by the telecommunication network, their satisfaction toward the preferred network will affect their loyalty.This loyalty might be manifested in behaviours such as making positive recommendation of the network service to other potential users, who are to purchase the network, promoting the network brand to the market.
Also, in analyzing the hypothesis which states that there is significant relationship between consumer involvement and consumer loyalty among Nigerian university students in Lagos state, data collated on consumer engagement and consumer loyalty using a questionnaire on a five points response was sorted, computed and analyzed and the result revealed that there is a strong positive correlation and significant correlation (r = 0.641; p < .001), between consumer involvement and consumer loyalty among Nigerian university students in Lagos state, (see Table 1).Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis, that is, a significant relationship does exist between consumer involvement and consumer loyalty among Nigerian university students in Lagos state.
Consumer involvement also showed a significant influence on consumer loyalty among telecommunication users.The result suggested that consumer involvement strongly encourages loyalty among telecommunication users.The result of the current study supported other researchers in the field, which claims that there is a significant relationship between consumer involvement and consumer loyalty.The result suggested that involvement encourages loyalty among consumer, this is in consonance with Leong, Syuhaily, et al., (2017) whose study found a significant relationship between consumer involvement and consumer Loyalty in Malaysian tourism industry.it also coherent with the research conducted by Arslan and Altuna (2019), their study reveals that there is a significant relationship between attitudinal loyalty and purchase loyalty although the former is seen to be an explanatory variable.
Consumer involvement has a significant and direct impact on consumer loyalty among Nigerian university student's telecommunication users in Lagos state Nigeria.The result demonstrates a significant and positive direct impact of consumer Involvement on consumer loyalty.The results of this current study suggest that when a consumer has a positive level of involvement with a particular service or product, the consumer is more likely to be satisfied with the service or product, then invariably becomes loyal towards the services.This was better clarified by Biswas et al., (2020), who concluded that more highly involved customers become more loyal over the long term.In consolidation with previous findings, this study found that, involvement strengthens the positive relationship between loyalty, in such that the higher the involvement, the higher the loyalty.Based on the research findings, it shows that most individuals, consumer, or customers become loyal towards a particular service, brand, or product when they are directly and highly involved with a product or services.
While to analyze the hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between consumer engagement and consumer loyalty among Nigerian university students in Lagos state, data collated on consumer engagement and consumer loyalty using a questionnaire on a five points response was sorted, computed and analyzed and the result revealed that there is a positive and significant correlation r = 0.517; p < .001consumer engagement and consumer loyalty among Nigerian university students in Lagos state, (see Table 1).Therefore, the null hypothesis stating that a significant relationship does not exist consumer engagement and consumer loyalty among is rejected.
In investigating the relationship between consumer engagement and loyalty from consumer of telecommunication users in Lago state Nigeria, using university students.The results of the analysis of the study show that, in the context of the telecommunication industry in Lagos, Nigeria, customer engagement (both online and offline) lead to loyalty.The two constructs have a positive direct relationship between them.As a result, consumer loyalty rises because of increased customer engagement.Telecom customers acquire feelings for their brands, think about them, and show loyalty behaviours toward them because of their engagement.The logos and colours of their favourite telecommunications company may be painted on their homes and businesses in Lagos, Nigeria.There is no better way to illustrate the depth of emotional investment customers have in their favourite businesses than with this.This study's findings are like those found by other researchers in past engagement studies.According to Susanti, Rafika, and Melinda (2021), a company's loyalty is predicted to increase with appropriate levels and types of involvement.Loyalty and engagement can be fostered through the development of mutual trust and affective commitment, according to Susanti, Rafika, and Melinda (2021).According to Dhasan and Aryupong (2019).Customer loyalty is a result of customer engagement.Their argument was that customers develop a link with a brand when they engage with it on multiple levels, according to their theory.Makudza ( 2020) provides yet more solid evidence that consumer engagement results in increased loyalty.Even if a consumer already has a high level of loyalty, they say that customer engagement can help keep it strong.Customer engagement and loyalty are linked in the works of Roy, Gruner, and Guo (2022), as well as Paul, Uwana, Morgan and Tim (2017).

Conclusion
In the telecommunication industry, intense competition is pushing the firms to strive for loyalty from their customers.One of the main vehicles to achieving the loyalty is through consumer engagement, involvement, and satisfaction of customers.The cardinal purpose of this study was to ascertain the role consumer satisfaction, involvement and engagement plays on consumers loyalty, which the study has successfully answered all the objectives listed out at the beginning of the study.Although research has shown that consumer satisfactions stand has the main factor which makes consumer loyal towards a particular products or services, this study also reveals that consumer loyalty can be guaranteed hen organization engage and involve their potential consumers in their products and services, and make sure their priority is not just producing goods or services but making sure their customer or consumer are satisfied.The finding that one of the conditions of true customer loyalty is total satisfaction is also a conclusion that is consistent across different angles of industries.From the factors identified in this research work as causes of consumers loyalty, it is pertinent that some practical measures need to be taken to encourage consumers, in other to become loyal towards a products or services.
The findings of this research have shown that consumer satisfaction, involvement and engagement help a business concentrate on a particular type of relationship that builds a powerful consumer company connection.It has countless benefits promoting a brand, enhancing customer perception, and enhancing company profitability.From the perspective of the industry, the research has shown that consumer satisfaction, involvement and engagement are one of the key strategies of attaining lasting consumer connection and loyalty.It also shows the vital significance of customer satisfaction, involvement, and engagement in consumer behaviour, and understanding nature of industry consumer relationship and properly managing it.
This research has shown from the consumer's point of view that consumer engagement has a beneficial impact on long term relational advancements.The research demonstrates that customer engagement explains why consumers are interested in building a business relationship with firms in terms of recognition and loyalty.It also impacts on improving the position of the consumers and meeting their social requirements.Customer engagement is one the most cost-effective beneficial approaches for improving business efficiency and retaining consumers.This research also demonstrates that consumer satisfaction, engagement, and involvement positively affect consumer loyalty.
Vroom's idea of Expectancy theory was proposed in the study, and it provides a rationale for why customers select one behavioural option over the rest.A major idea of the theory examines whether customers are motivated to make a purchase because they feel that doing so will result in the desired outcome.Since it can assist telecommunications or any industry and managers in building customers' traits towards loyalty through satisfaction, this has significant benefits in improving customers' motivation to participate, engage, and be satisfied as well as loyalty.This theory does not include all the influencing elements, but it gives business executives, policymakers, and other organizational leaders a starting point for better decision-making and a knowledge of how to drive customers through the expectations they have of their purchases.According to expectancy theory, consumers' expectations shape their impressions of their environment and their subsequent interactions with other people in the supply chain.This study adds to the body of knowledge on consumer behavior, particularly in the Nigerian context.It provides information on the current state of consumer loyalty in the telecommunication industry and the how the level of satisfaction, involvement and engagement help contribute to consumer loyalty.Ultimately, it improves customers purchase experience through the service providers hence, the findings enable service providers to understand the ways to retain and satisfy their customers amid existing fierce competition.

Implications of Study
The research contributes significantly to the field of consumer behaviour, particularly in telecom services.In the first place, customers' opinions of marketing variables that influence consumer loyalty have been elicited and documented.With this information, telecom service providers may learn how their customers evaluate their products and services.This is particularly critical in Nigeria, where the telecommunications business is fiercely competitive, making it easy for customers to migrate between providers.The results of the study shed light on the factors that influence consumer loyalty.Operators need to promote customer or consumer involvement and be committed to providing reliable services to subscribers, as satisfaction is not only the primary predictor of consumer loyalty.
This study enriches the body of knowledge on consumer behavior in our society.To the researcher's best of knowledge, few studies have been found conducted empirically in Lagos state Nigerian telecommunication industries.However, the aim of these studies was to empirically explore the factors that are associated with consumer loyalty and their linkages.This research extends the existing theoretical and empirical look at how the determinant of consumer loyalties looks like.

Recommendations for Future Research
This study provided the foundations for future research to increase the understanding and the roles consumer satisfaction, engagement, and involvement on consumers loyalty in all marketing and consumer behavior aspect.Replication of this study with other samples of consumers from other provinces to confirm the results of this study or detect factors that affect consumers loyalties are recommended.The study only had one sample group, which are the consumers from telecommunication users.Therefore, if this study were to be conducted with a sample from a different population, different relationships may have been found.Based on the findings of the study, the researcher observed that there is still potential for further research as an outcome of this study, other researchers could strengthen this study by having two or more samples, to investigate further the importance of consumer satisfaction, engagement, and involvement on consumers loyalties in different industries.