Enhancing the relationship benefit to develop relationship value

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the causal and effect among trust and relationship value, then deem relationship benefit as mediator variable. There is a very little literature of relationship benefit to be explored regarding the gap between theory and practice. We tested the causal relationship among each construct in trust (including characteristic-based trust, institutional-based trust and process-based trust constructs), with relationship benefit (including confidence benefit, special treatment benefit and social benefit) and with relationship value (including attribute-based value, consequence-based value and goal-based value) on the survey of visitors in transit staying in Japanese resort at Taoyuan international airport. Empirical results showed that the various types of trust influence different kinds of relationship value via diverse typed of relationship benefit. The managerial implications of this research can provide useful strategies for international hotels to perform their customer service activities more effectively.