Influence of Internal Marketing Dimensions on Organizational Commitment: An Empirical Application in Ecuadorian Co-Operativism

Abstract

Internal marketing involves planning, implementing, and assessing strategies focused on the internal customer (employee), who, at the same time, looks to strengthen their organizational commitment. In this context, leaders and managers should focus on human capital through policies which encourage the motivation and satisfaction of employees, in a way that they feel committed to the institution which, at the same time, will help the achievement of organizational targets. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to analyze internal marketing dimensions and their possible relationship with organizational commitment. To do so, fieldwork based on a research questionnaire has been developed, aimed at a very important area of the social economy: co-operativism in a developing country. A total of 2,499 surveys were distributed among employees, leaders, and managers of Ecuadorian cooperatives. To describe the possible mediating effect of the research variables, a hierarchical, multiple linear regression analysis was applied. The results reveal that the internal marketing dimensions present statistically significant correlations with the organizational commitment, with the internal communication dimension being its maximum relational exponent. It is also extracted from the study that sociodemographic and works position variables positively influence the relationship between both constructs, presenting higher relational levels when the employee is married, has higher studies and their work contract is temporary.