The Impact of Green Shipping Practices on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention in the Container Shipping Industry: Evidence from Maritime Freight Forwarders

Abstract

This study established an empirical structural equation model to examine whether the adoption of green shipping practices (GSPs) will influence customer satisfaction and customer retention in the container shipping industry from the perspective of freight forwarders, while accounting for the effectiveness of marketing activities. Through questionnaire survey, 114 responding data were collected from freight forwarders in the Taiwan area. The main results discovered are as follows: (1) adoption of GSPs was found to positively influence companies' environmental performance in terms of perceived green capability (PGC); (2) the most significant finding in this study is the irrelevance of PGC to both CS and CR from the perspective of freight forwarders. In addition, after discussing the managerial implications, this study examined whether adopting GSPs to improve the environmental and productivity performance of liner carriers remains an ongoing debate and if it warrants a further investigation.