EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON QUALITY SERVICE DELIVERY AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR: THE MODERATING ROLES OF TRAINING AND AGE

This study was conducted to examine the impact of emotional intelligence on quality service delivery and customer loyalty. Training and age were used as moderators. A total of 500 participants comprising 200 retailers and 300 customers were sampled through purposive and convenience sampling. Participants’ age ranged between 19 and 40 years. Emotional intelligence was measured with the assessing emotions scale and quality service delivery and customer loyalty were measured using the SERVQUAL and SERVLOYAL scales respectively. The results of the Pearson correlation indicated a significant positive correlation between emotional intelligence and quality service delivery as well as customer loyalty. There was also a significant positive correlation between quality service delivery and customer loyalty. The findings of the hierarchical multiple regression indicated that training and age moderated the relationship between emotional intelligence and quality service delivery.