Abstract
The paper aims to contribute to the body of knowledge on client commitment in business-to-business professional services by developing and testing two alternative models: one based on the Relationship Marketing (RM) approach and the second on the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group (IMP) approach. Both models include the same mediators (components of commitment) and consequences (attitudinal and behavioral loyalty), yet they differ in the antecedents of commitment. By using SEM, both models are tested and compared on a sample of 150 firms. The results show that affective commitment is the only component of commitment that influences both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. In the RM model affective commitment is positively influenced by trust, social bonds and satisfaction, while in the IMP model it is positively influenced by trust and knowledge transfers. Although differences in the sizes of effects can be found, the two models perform comparably well in terms of the model fit and their explanatory power of loyalty. Santrauka Straipsnio tikslas - nustatyti žinių lygį, kurį yra pasiekę profesionalai, organizuojantys paslaugų teikimą pagal modelį verslas verslui. Autoriai pasirinko du modelius: vienas pagrįstas rinkodaros ryšių (MR), kitas - gamybinės rinkodaros ir prekybos grupių (IMP) požiūriu. Abu modeliai apima tokius parametrus, kaip įsipareigojimai, ir tokius rezultatus, kaip vartotojų lojalumas, požiūris, tačiau skirtingas pradines sąlygas. Atliekant tyrimus modeliai buvo pritaikyti 150 įmonių. Kaip teigia straipsnio autoriai, gauti tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad emocinis įsipareigojimas yra sudėtinė įsipareigojimų, turinčių įtakos lojalumui bei vartotojų požiūrio formavimui, dalis. Pritaikius pasirinktus modelius gaunami atitinkami rezultatai.
Highlights
Customers and customer relationships are perceived as the most important assets of business firms, closely related to long-term succes in the market (Korsakienė 2009)
The purpose of this study is to add to the body of knowledge on client commitment in the professional service sector in business-to-business markets by developing, testing and comparing two alternative models of commitment between marketing research firms and their clients, with the first being based on the Relationship Marketing (RM) approach and the second on the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group (IMP) approach
IMP researchers are more interested in conceptual questions: what are the relationships, how can we describe the interaction, what is the position of a firm within a network and how are firms and dyads embedded within a network
Summary
Customers and customer relationships are perceived as the most important assets of business firms, closely related to long-term succes in the market (Korsakienė 2009). B. Čater et al Commitment in marketing research services: two alternative models components, namely affective, (positive and negative) calculative, and normative commitment (de Ruyter, Semeijn 2002; Sharma et al 2006; Rauyruen, Miller 2007; Cater, Zabkar 2009). To ensure comparability of the influence of constructs that are used in both approaches on relationship commitment, this study uses structural equation modeling as the main research approach This approach is more widely used in RM-based studies, it has been used in IMP-based research (e.g., Hallén et al 1991; de Ruyter, Semeijn 2002; Kalafatis 2002; Woo, Ennew 2004). The two models are compared on the basis of the overall model fit, explanatory power and significance of paths
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