A data-driven analysis of post-adoption engagement and advocacy in the fintech loyalty ecosystem

Fintech ecosystems are redefining how customers experience, evaluate, and sustain digital financial relationships. As the use of fintech services accelerates, the challenge has shifted from driving adoption to understanding the behavioral and technological factors that sustain participation over time. This study advances post-adoption research by unearthing how engagement evolves in fintech loyalty applications and how it transforms into advocacy or word of mouth. Using multilingual app-store reviews (i.e., 4638 in Arabic and 1031 in English), posted by real customers, the research captures spontaneous and context-rich reflections of lived digital experiences. A sequential mixed-methods approach integrates sentiment analysis, hierarchical clustering, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling to link exploratory discovery with construct-level confirmatory validation using Ordinary Least Squares regression, complemented by Partial Least Squares and Random Forest analyses. Results orchestrate that perceived value, enjoyment, functionality, and a novel construct, i.e., temporal cadence perception, enhance engagement, while complexity weakens it. Engagement, in turn, drives advocacy when user gratifications align with credible service signals. The study advances marketing analytics for digital consumer participation by showing how experiential cues and platform rhythm quantify and explain long term interaction. For practitioners, it provides evidence-based guidance for designing fintech loyalty applications that strengthen engagement through responsiveness, consistency, and transparent value delivery.