From internal marketing to customer- perceived relationship quality: evidence of Vietnamese banking firms

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the effect of internal marketing – treating employees as internal customers – on salesperson’s engagement in customer-oriented selling behaviour and relational selling behaviour which in turn result in customer perceived relationship quality. It also aims at examining the moderating role of service climate for employee relationship marketing behaviours. The data were collected through surveys from dyadic interactions between salespeople and customers in banking firms in Vietnam. The results showed that internal marketing is significantly associated with salesperson’s customer-oriented selling behaviour and relational selling behaviour which are relevant to customer relationship quality. In addition, service climate significantly moderates the influence of internal marketing on salesperson customer-oriented selling behaviour; whereas, service climate does not serve as a crucial moderator for salesperson relational selling behaviour. The study concludes with useful scholarly and managerial implications.