International Journal of Economics.
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php/IJEBAR MEDIATION ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY OF THE GOJEK APPLICATION IN SEMARANG Robingatul Muflihah1.
Edwin Zusrony2*.
Haryo Kusumo3 Faculty of Academic Studies.
Universitas Sains dan Teknologi Komputer.
Semarang123 E-mail: robingatulmuflihah64@gmail.
com 1, edwin.
zusrony@stekom.
id 2, haryo@stekom.
*Corresponding author's email: edwin.
zusrony@stekom.
Abstract:
This study has been structured to investigate how experiential marketing influences customer retention through customer satisfaction.
It is a quantitative study with a population consisting of Gojek users in the Semarang City.
The sampling technique is non-random sampling with a purposive sampling The number of respondents is limited to 50 Gojek users in the Millennial and Generation Z categories.
The research instrument is a structured questionnaire and the obtained responses will be measured using a Likert scale.
For this research, the data analysis technique selected is Partial Least Square (PLS) and the required calculations will be done using SmartPLS 4.
0 software.
The result of this study shows that there is a positive and significant effect of experiential marketing on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, also customer satisfaction positively affects customer loyalty, and customer satisfaction can be considered as a mediator in the effect of experiential marketing on customer loyalty.
These results support the significance of positive customer experiences as a core marketing tool to reinforce loyalty.
Keywords:
Experiential Marketing.
Customer Loyalty.
Customer Satisfaction.
Semarang.
Gojek.
Submitted: 2025-09-22.
Revised: 2025-09-27.
Accepted: 2025-09-29 Introduction Due to the rapid development of technology, maintaining relationships and competing in the service industry requires strategic restructuring.
The implementation of innovative, customercentric marketing strategies, which have shown positive growth, aims to create positive experiences for customers, focusing on increasing customer loyalty.
It has also been noted that, in app-based transportation marketing, the design of strategies for customer retention has undergone rapid innovation.
This is directly correlated with immersive experiential marketing and unique technologies emerging from ongoing digitalization.
To further enhance customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.
Gojek, as one of Indonesia's leading on-demand service platforms, needs to leverage experiential marketing.
This marketing strategy focuses on developing positive customer experiences and thus aims to integrate various forms of customer value (Noor et al.
, 2.
Experiential marketing aims to extend customer satisfaction to the level of loyalty.
Previous research has shown a positive International Journal of Economics.
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Recognizing this.
Gojek needs to focus on how various elements of experiential marketing can be used to increase customer loyalty.
Satisfaction, as a result of one's experience, is crucial for building customer loyalty.
Several studies have shown that customer satisfaction positively impacts loyalty, and satisfied customers are more likely to make repeat purchase (Yunus et al.
, 2.
Furthermore, research also shows that service quality and positive customer experiences lead to higher satisfaction, which in turn leads to greater loyalty (Susanti & Mandal, 2.
By focusing on how the experience offered by Gojek influences customer satisfaction and loyalty, this study aims to provide the company with insights to formulate more targeted marketing strategies.
Gojek dominance has also waned but remains a leader, while challengers like Maxim are showing very strong growth.
State of Mobile 2024 reports that the Gojek app was the most used in 2022 and 2021, reaching an average of 957,000 monthly downloads in 2023, a 29% year-over-year decline (Santika, 2.
Gojek has been and remains a popular app.
2023 also saw Maxim grow by 15.
39% as Gojek lost downloads.
Gojek's loss, according to State of Mobile 2024, was Maxim's gain.
InDrive, also a Gojek competitor, jumped three spots to 3rd Gojek 4th competitor.
Grab Driver, saw a 17.
87% decline and is now in 4th place.
Taxsee Driver also grew by 19.
46% to 5th place.
Gojek has always enjoyed high downloads, but competition is intensifying.
Figure 1.
Online Transportation Application Downloads in Indonesia .
In Semarang, where Gojek commands a significant market share, assessing customer perceptions of experiential marketing is relevant.
Service quality, responsiveness, and ease of use can significantly increase customer satisfaction and retention (Pahlawan et al.
, 2.
Research by Ichsan et al.
and Umboh et al.
confirms the assertion that positive experiences with a service directly contribute to increased customer satisfaction.
Therefore, it is important to examine how Gojek can strengthen these factors to further enhance customer According to a survey conducted by the Polling Institute in 2022, approximately 32.
1% of online motorcycle taxi users in Indonesia are aged 21-30 years, dominated by Generation Z and millennials, and approximately 28.
2% are aged 31-40 years.
The population of Generation Z and millennials in Semarang City aged 20-39 years is 507,670 people, which includes 29.
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Figure 2.
Population of Semarang City Based on Age Category Based on the current trend where customers choose services based on their experiences.
Gojek is required to adapt its marketing strategy (Umboh et al.
, 2.
Emotionally driven and deeply resonant customer experiences play a crucial role in building loyalty (Mafea et al.
Therefore, this study seeks to explore various dimensions of experiential marketing, specifically how Gojek strives to go beyond simply meeting and satisfying customers, thus impacting customer loyalty.
In previous studies.
Noor et al.
found that experiential marketing has a significant impact on customer loyalty across various domains.
However, there is still a gap in the literature analyzing the interaction between these variables in the context of transportation services, specifically for Gojek customers in Semarang.
Therefore, this study, along with the construct of customer satisfaction as an intervening variable, seeks to provide broader empirical evidence regarding the mechanisms linking experiential marketing to customer loyalty.
Strategies for loyalty programme design and implementation should be centred on customer retention and customer loyalty and, as such, should be regarded as a source of competitive advantage.
This is due to the fact that a big customer advocate is very likely to help a business acquire additional customers as well as expanded market share (Mafea et al.
This research aims to help Gojek develop more creating effective customer retention and loyalty strategies through service marketing improvement.
Setiawan & Sayuti .
claim that owing to alterations in the industry, companies are competing more than ever.
New methods are being developed in an attempt to win over new clients and keep the ones that are already on board.
This study is relevant and important because of the practical and theoretical contributions that it offers to areas of marketing management.
Experience marketing is directly associated with customer loyalty and given the current marketing climate.
such contributions are indeed necessary.
This research will try to determine how experiential marketing affects customer loyalty and how customer satisfaction mediates that effect, in the case of Gojek in Semarang.
Hence, this research will not only be relevant to the current industry scenario but will also have applicable findings which Gojek, along with other companies in the industry, can benefit from.
Literature Review Experiential Marketing As stated by Dewi et.
, experiential marketing revolves about developing strategies for engagement sustaimng customer relationship by emotionally appealing through International Journal of Economics.
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Other phenomena that will be brought by such marketing strategies include enhanced customer retention, repurchase motives and loyalty (Nafiah & Trihudiyatmanto.
The elements of experiential marketing, according to the theory developed by Schmitt and cited in Nafiah and Trihudiyatmanto .
, include:
Sense: Experiences involving the senses such as sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.
Feel: The emotional aspiration a customer experiences during an interaction with a product or service.
Think: Stimuli that influence how a customer perceives or thinks about a brand or product.
Act: Customer actions and behaviors that arise as a result of their experience, such as trying, purchasing, or engaging more actively with the brand.
Relate: The interpersonal relationship and emotional attachment built between a customer and a brand or company, creating a deep sense of connection and long-term loyalty.
Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction encompasses customers' attitudes toward products and services after they acquire, pay for, and use them (Fakhri, 2.
Customer satisfaction is achieved when there is a feeling of satisfaction with the level of service compared to expectations and compared to the cost of the service (Apriliani et al.
, 2.
This is in accordance with research developed and aligned with study variables from Wirawan et al.
, where the indicators of customer satisfaction are:
Overall Satisfaction: The overall level of customer satisfaction, including service quality, price, and product quality.
Expectation: The extent to which the product and/or service offered matches customer Experience: The level of customer satisfaction during their relationship with the company.
Customer Loyalty According to Istiyawari et al.
, customer loyalty is a customer's commitment to a store, brand, or supplier, expressed positively through repeat purchases.
Meanwhile.
Insani and Madiawati .
define customer loyalty as a phenomenon in which consumers tend to purchase a product or service repeatedly in the future.
According to Rachmawati, as cited in Dewi and Suprapti .
, customer loyalty indicators include:
Repeat Purchase: The frequency with which a customer repurchases the same product.
Recommendation: The customer's willingness to recommend the product to others.
Commitment: The degree to which a customer remains loyal and committed to a particular brand or product.
4 Research Hypothesis H1: Experiential Marketing has a positive and significant effect on Customer Satisfaction.
H2: Experiential Marketing has a positive and significant effect on Customer Loyalty.
H3: Customer Satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on Customer Loyalty.
H4: The effect of Experiential Marketing on Customer Loyalty is mediated by Customer Satisfaction.
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Research Framework Research Method This research uses a quantitative approach.
The research object was carried out in Semarang City.
The research was conducted on Gojek user respondents from generation Z and millennials aged 20-40 years.
The sampling technique used a non-random sampling technique with a purposive sampling method with a total of 50 respondents.
The research variables consisted of customer satisfaction, experiential marketing, and customer loyalty.
Data collection used a questionnaire with a research instrument assessment using a Likert scale of 1-5.
Data analysis used multiple linear regression techniques to test the research hypothesis.
The software used in data processing used SmartPLS 4.
Results and Discussion Results Respondent Description Respondents from generation Z and Millennials aged 20-40 years and domiciled in Semarang City are Gojek users.
The total sample of 50 respondents in the research instrument The results of data collection show that female respondents dominate with a total of 36 .
%) people and male respondents are 14 .
%).
Based on age, generation Z is more dominant where respondents aged 20-27 years are 27 people .
%), then the second position consists of respondents aged 28-33 years as many as 12 people .
%), and the third position of respondents aged 34-40 years as many as 11 people .
%).
In the use of the Gojek application, generation Z and Millennials are dominated by a period of use for more than three years with a total of 34 people .
%), then Gojek users for 1-3 years are 10 people .
%), and followed by a period of use for less than a year as many as 6 respondents .
%).
Outer Model .
Convergent Validity In analyzing the validity of the indicators in this study, outer loading was evaluated using the loading factor.
Indicators with a loading factor greater than 0.
7 are considered appropriate for measuring a variable (Maulan et al.
, 2.
Maulan et al.
noted that all indicators in the study shown in Figure 4 met the indicator threshold value.
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Convergent Validity .
Discriminant Validity The AVE score is also used to assess construct validity.
These numbers indicate the proportion of indicators explaining the latent construct, and a score above 0.
5 indicates convergent validity (Sarstedt et al.
, 2.
The calculated AVE values are illustrated in Table 1 below:
Table 1.
Discriminant Validity .
Composite Reliability Referring to the reliability test results in Table 2, the Cronbach's Alpha value and Composite Reliability score for the construct meet the requirements, namely higher than 0.
(Junianto et al.
, 2.
Thus, it can be concluded that the construct is highly reliable.
Table 2.
Reliability Test Inner Model .
R-Square The R2 value indicates how much influence the value of the exogenous variable has on the value of the endogenous variable.
The predictability of the R2 value is directly proportional to the R2 value.
The R2 value, according to Hair as cited in Ghozali and Latan .
, is categorized as strong at 0.
75, moderate at 0.
50, and weak at 0.
In Table 3, the R2 value for Customer Satisfaction of 0.
572 is in the moderate category, while the R2 value for Customer Loyalty of 0.
774 is also in the moderate category.
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Nilai R-Square .
Hypothesis Testing Goodness of Fit (GoF) The Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) is an indicator of model fit in PLSSEM that helps avoid model specification errors and is used as supporting evidence for proposed ideas (Tarigan et al.
, 2.
The SRMR value should be less than 0.
080, indicating good or acceptable model fit, while SRMR values between 0.
08 and 0.
10 are still acceptable (Najwa et al.
, 2.
By focusing on the findings, the proposed model is intended to support and clarify existing theories.
The SRMR of 0.
075, as shown in Table 6, is proven to be less 08, confirming the findings.
Table 6.
Goodness of Fit (GoF) Effect Size Effect size can be defined as the difference in the occurrence of an effect.
In statistical terms, it measures the level of correlation between variables.
As stated in the F-Square, a value 02 is considered small, 0.
15 is considered medium, and 0.
35 is considered large (Sarstedt et al.
, 2.
Table 7 shows the effect size of the experiential marketing variable on customer satisfaction is 1.
The effect size on customer loyalty is 0.
The effect size on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is 0.
Table 7.
Effect Size Discussion Experiential Marketing on Customer Satisfaction Based on the results of testing the first hypothesis, it is proven that the experiential marketing factor has a significant effect on customer satisfaction with evidence of a P-value of 000 O 0.
This shows that Experiential marketing is a factor that has a significant impact on Gojek customer satisfaction in Semarang City.
This study concurs with Dewi et al.
that experiential marketing greatly enhances customer satisfaction at Jatim Park 1 tourist attraction in Batu City.
These findings are in line with Triwahyuni and Zuhroh .
who also International Journal of Economics.
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Thus, the first research hypothesis is validated.
Experiential Marketing on Customer Loyalty The second analysis indicates that there is an effect of experiential marketing on customer loyalty which is statistically significant on the basis of the P-value of 0.
000 O 0.
This shows that experiential marketing is one of the determinants of customer satisfaction of Gojek users in Semarang.
This study supports the findings of Triwahyuni and Zuhroh .
which demonstrated the positive effect of experiential marketing on customer loyalty in Emery Bistro & Cafy located in Jombang Regency.
It is also in accordance to the findings of Muljani .
research, which found that experiential marketing factors have a positive effect on customer loyalty at Boncafe restaurants in Surabaya.
Thus, the second hypothesis is accepted.
Customer Satisfaction Towards Customer Loyalty Test results on the first hypothesis suggest that customer satisfaction has meaningful customer loyalty P-value is 0.
001 O 0.
This supports an earlier work by Baisyir and Quintania .
, on customer satisfaction and Gojek customer loyalty in Semarang.
Moreover, in another finding by Muljani .
, customer satisfaction was shown to positively influence customer loyalty at Boncafe restaurants in Surabaya.
For this reason, the third hypothesis is accepted.
The Influence of Experiential Marketing on Customer Loyalty is Mediated by Customer Satisfaction This studyAos results bolster the hypothesis concerning the relationships between the variables experiential marketing and customer loyalty, in mediation by Gojek customer satisfaction variables in the city of Semarang with a p-value of 0.
005 O 0.
Particularly salient is Muljani .
thesis on the marketing strategies and customer appreciation variables at Boncafe and the customer loyalty variables in Surabaya City, in which marketing strategies mediated the customer appreciation variables.
Therefore, the fourth hypothesis is validated.
Conclusion Valid sources indicate a connection between experiential marketing and the improvement of customer satisfaction and loyalty, trust customer satisfaction as a mediator has also been proven to strengthen the linkage between experiential marketing and customer loyalty.
Customer experience, and its associated satisfaction, is vital in bolstering loyalty, and this is particularly the case for users of digital transportation services such as Gojek among the Millennial and Gen Z cohorts.
Therefore, concerning enhancing experiential marketing efforts, tailoring marketing strategies to the preferences of a target audience is beneficial.
Furthermore, the recommend future researchers with the aim of enhancing the generalizability of the work include a wider geographic region and a larger respondent pool, as well as supplementary variables such as brand trust and customer engagement.
This, as well as other strategies, can be adopted by digital MSMEs to improve their customer retention and competitiveness in the experience economy.
References