Int. J. Procurement Management, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2013 407 Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Role of involvement and commitment in sustaining firm-customer relationships: an empirical investigation Sanjai K. Parahoo e-School of Business and Quality Management, Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, Dubai International Academic City, P.O. Box 71400, Dubai, UAE E-mail: s.parahoo@gmail.com Abstract: This study investigated two customer characteristics (involvement and commitment) deemed to support the establishment of sustainable firm-customer relationships within customer loyalty programs (CLP). A conceptual model of loyalty, involving five latent variables and generic with regard to industry and nationality of respondents, was developed and empirically examined using data collected from 445 members of global loyalty programs. The fit of both the measurement and structural models were good confirming that both involvement and commitment provided stability and sustainability to the firm-customer relationships in CLP. In order to enhance involvement and commitment, it is recommended that firms implementing CLP leverage collaborative procurement practices based on e-business technologies to efficiently procure aspirational services in low season. The firms may then offer these high perceived value services as rewards to their members thereby enhancing the CLP relationship. Keywords: customer loyalty; customer loyalty program; CLP; involvement; commitment; service quality; value; relationship marketing. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Parahoo, S.K. (2013) ‘Role of involvement and commitment in sustaining firm-customer relationships: an empirical investigation’, Int. J. Procurement Management, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp.407–423. Biographical notes: Sanjai K. Parahoo is the Director for Graduate Programs at the Business School at Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, Dubai. He holds a BTech from IIT Delhi, an MBA (Mauritius) and PhD (Mauritius and FACIREM, La Réunion). He has extensive project management and contract research experience in various African countries. His research interests and publications are in the field of consumer behaviour in business and e-learning environments. This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper titled ‘Building sustainable customer relationships through loyalty programs: a structural modeling investigation’ presented at the International Conference of Excellence in Business (ICEB) hosted at the University of Sharjah on 9–10 May 2012.