Relationship Marketing Investments Research Articles

Examining consumers' perceptions of relationship value with retailers: a multi-method approach

PurposeThis study employs a multi-method approach to investigate how perceived relationship marketing investment affects perceived relationship value and consumer gratitude, influencing consumer involvement, word-of-mouth intentions, and long-term relationships across three retail consumer types.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyses a model involving 542 consumers, employing structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify distinctive factor configurations across public, semi-public, and private retail organizations.FindingsA retailer’s investment in relationship marketing significantly enhances relationship value and consumer gratitude, leading to increased engagement and word-of-mouth intentions. Perceived benevolence moderates the effect of relationship marketing on gratitude. However, gratitude alone does not ensure long-term relationships. Using fsQCA, we identify four distinct consumer configurations, providing nuanced insights.Research limitations/implicationsRetail organizations broaden relationship marketing strategies to boost perceived value and elicit consumer gratitude, influencing consumer performance outcomes.Practical implicationsRetail organizations should broaden relationship marketing strategies to boost perceived value and elicit consumer gratitude, influencing consumer performance outcomes.Social implicationsManagers should develop strategies that lead to consumer gratitude toward the firm, such as journey mapping can help visualize retail delivery. Grateful consumers may contribute to firms’ profitability by influencing current and potential consumers in their social networks and communicating their expertise through review/feedback for improvement. Therefore, various strategies are needed to stimulate positive comments from grateful consumers about the firm’s excellent performance.Originality/valueThis study builds on Lawler’s affect theory, highlighting how relationship value and consumer gratitude profoundly influence exchange process outcomes. It introduces new psychological mechanisms to explain the impact of perceived relationship marketing investment on performance outcomes. Integrating these elements provides a comprehensive understanding of retailer–consumer dynamics, revealing how emotional and psychological factors shape marketing strategies and business performance. This contribution enriches theoretical frameworks and offers practical insights for enhancing relationship marketing practices.

More is better but in what direction? The effects of relationship marketing investment breadth and depth on customer gratitude

Relationship marketing is an important strategy salespeople use to develop and maintain sustainable customer relationships. Accordingly, they invest significantly in relationship marketing activities to prompt positive perceptions from their customers. However, salespeople often face resource limitations, which restrict their ability to effectively invest in relationship marketing activities. Building on this premise, we propose that salespeople may choose two different strategies to capitalize on their investments in relationship marketing: broadly investing in multiple categories without deep commitment or deeply investing in specific categories at the expense of wide coverage. Given their specific focus, we argue that these two strategies influence customer perceptions differently. Furthermore, we suggest that their effectiveness is contingent on customers' orientation in inter-firm interactions. Using data collected from 183 organizational customers, we find robust evidence supporting our hypotheses.

The association between relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude in the Vietnam retail sector: an S-O-R approach

The association between relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude in the Vietnam retail sector: an S-O-R approach

The association between relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude in the Vietnam retail sector: An S-O-R approach

The association between relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude in the Vietnam retail sector: An S-O-R approach

How Gratitude and Self-Image Congruency Can Affect the Satisfaction, Trust and Affective Commitment?

Objectives: This study aims to determine the effect of perceived relationship marketing investments, self-image congruency, and customer gratitude on satisfaction, trust, and affective commitment perceived by-product customers who are associated with local brands. Methodology: This study uses a quantitative approach by distributing questionnaires. Hypothesis testing was carried out using SEM (Structural Equation Model) analysis technique on AMOS 24.0 software. The object used is the brand of consumer goods products. This research was conducted by surveying 305 Y and Z generation customers who have used or are currently using the product.Finding: The results of this study indicate that gratitude has a positive and significant effect on trust and affective commitment, and also has a negative and significant effect on overall satisfaction.Conclusion: This research shows that when the customer has felt the relationship marketing investment that a product or organization has made then from then positive feelings and a greater sense of gratitude will arise for the product or organization. Keywords: Affective Commitment; Customer Gratitude; Perceived Relationship Marketing Investment; Satisfaction; Self-Image Congruence; Trust.

Is relationship marketing investments–customer gratitude–customer loyalty linkage influenced by contextual and individual moderators? An emerging economy perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the moderating impact of four moderators, namely, retailer brand strength, customer’s perceived purchase regularity, gender and purchase channel (online and offline) on the relationship between relationship marketing investments (RMIs) and customer gratitude, and customer gratitude and customer loyalty. The context of research is the purchase of a high-involvement product by Indian customers.Design/methodology/approachThis study adapts Huang RMIs-Gratitude-Loyalty model and empirically validates the associated hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Data is collected through the survey method.FindingsThe study (N = 385) results suggest a significant impact of preferential treatment and interpersonal communication investments on customer’s feeling of gratitude toward the retailer and, consequently, on loyalty. Purchase channel, gender and, to a lesser extent, customer perceived regularity each moderates the relationships between marketing investment and gratitude, and that between gratitude and loyalty; surprisingly, retailer brand is not a significant moderator.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research can factor in the impact of loyalty program on the proposed relationships.Practical implicationsThis research offers helpful guidelines for retailers, especially for those who currently have a multichannel presence and invest or plan to invest in relationship marketing to obtain benefits from customer loyalty.Originality/valueThis investigation explores not only the relevance of RMIs–gratitude–loyalty model in the Indian retail context but also the influence of moderating variables on the retailers’ efforts of gaining consumer loyalty.

How gratitude improves relationship marketing outcomes for young consumers

PurposeRelationship marketing is about developing, maintaining and sustaining mutually beneficial customer–organisation relationships as measured by economic gains. Yet, a purely economic focus does not fully offer a psychological explanation of relationship marketing outcomes. In this regard, this paper has considered gratitude as a significant component of personal relationships, which offers insights into a customer–organisation relationships. Accordingly, this study aims to examine gratitude as a mechanism to predict relationship marketing outcomes, such as overall satisfaction, trust and commitment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 1,093 millennial consumers across three university campuses.FindingsResults indicate that gratitude is a mediating mechanism that can explain the relationship between young consumers’ perceptions of relationship marketing investments and overall satisfaction, trust and commitment. Perceived benevolence strengthens the relationship between perceived relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude.Originality/valueThe gratitude model contributes an alternative understanding of how young consumers’ perceptions of an organisation’s marketing investments are important in achieving a high degree of relationship marketing outcomes. This paper further incorporates the moderating roles of customer cynicism and perceptions of benevolence, key individual and relational characteristics, that influence the level of gratitude individuals to experience in response to the investments made by organisations.

Examining the antecedents and consequences of gratitude

PurposeThis study aims to propose the emotional response of gratitude as a mediating mechanism to explain the relationship between perceptions of a service organisations’ relationship marketing investments, customer cynicism and reciprocity and overall satisfaction. Further, the study seeks to test the significance of the mediation effects of these constructs on customer overall satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachUsing theories from service marketing and consumer psychology, this study develops and tests a customer gratitude model (CGM). Field surveys based on existing measures were used to elicit data from 1,104 respondents. The measures were validated and subsequently the CGM was tested to establish the veracity if the nomological network presented.FindingsResults indicate that perceived relationship marketing investment exerted an indirect effect on gratitude through the mediating effect of reciprocity and cynicism. Further, perceived relationship marketing investments impacted overall satisfaction through its mediating effect of gratitude, and gratitude explained the indirect influences of reciprocity and customer cynicism on overall satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to services marketing literature by examining the emergent role of gratitude between customer perceptions of service organisations and pro-organisational attitudes, like overall satisfaction.Practical implicationsThis research encourages service organisations to implement relationship-building strategies, beyond that of purely economic benefits, that seek to enhance the emotion of gratitude, which will lead to greater overall customer satisfaction.Originality/valueDespite emphasising relationship longevity between customers and service organisations, literature has not yet focused on the role of gratitude. The CGM provides valuable insights for further inquiries.

Gratitude mediates consumer responses to marketing communications

PurposeFrom Adam Smith onwards, gratitude has been held as invaluable to societal functioning in view of its role in helping individuals maintain their reciprocal obligations to one another. The purpose of the current research is to use current conceptions of gratitude derived from work in social psychology to test whether simple descriptions of hypothetical organisations could systematically differ in the extent to which they elicit gratitude, and subsequently, whether gratitude would mediate behavioural intentions towards these organisations.Design/methodology/approachIn two studies, participants read vignettes describing hypothetical organisations that systematically differed in the extent to which the services they provided were costly to the organisation, of high value and provided out of a genuine desire to help. Perceptions of these dimensions, feelings of gratitude and behavioural intentions towards each organisation were subsequently measured.FindingsThe appraisal group manipulation significantly affected consumers’ behavioural intentions towards these businesses, and the majority of these relationships were mediated by feelings of gratitude towards the organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThese data indicate that gratitude not only mediates customer responses to relationship marketing investments, but may also be integral in marketing communications’ role in converting non-customers to customers. They also indicate that marketing communications should stress that an organisations services are of high value, of cost to the organisation and provided out of a genuine desire to help.Originality/valueThis paper shows for the first time that the same cognitive appraisals that underpin feelings of interpersonal gratitude mediate responses to global evaluations of organisations. This considerably broadens the situations under which gratitude had previously been considered to operate and argues for the inclusion of gratitude in understanding how marketing communications and relationship management are used to influence consumer responses.

Examination of Restaurant Quality, Relationship Benefits, and Customer Reciprocity From the Perspective of Relationship Marketing Investments

The current study adopted cluster and discriminant analyses to investigate how differentially upscale restaurant customers view (a) the four dimensions of restaurant quality (price fairness, food quality, service quality, and physical environment), (b) the three dimensions of relational benefits (confidence benefits, social benefits, and special treatment benefits), and (c) revisit intentions and favorable reciprocal behaviors as proxies for customer reciprocity when customers perceive different levels (high vs. low) of relationship marketing investment (RMI). When customers perceived high RMI, they (high-RMI customers) evaluated all the aforementioned factors positively. By contrast, customers who experienced low RMI (low-RMI customers) rated the same factors negatively. High- and low-RMI customers were best distinguished by service quality, confidence benefits, and favorable reciprocal behaviors. Understanding the distinction between high- and low-RMI customers will shed light on how operators of upscale restaurants develop and reinforce perceived RMI to achieve favorable customer reciprocity.

The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing: moderation and model validation

Relationship marketing (RM) theories often emphasize on the role of trust and commitment in affecting seller performance outcomes. We test a recently developed model in a field experiment that demonstrates that RM investments (RMI) generate feelings of gratitude depending on the different types of gratitude leveraging acts and affects purchase intentions. The results confirm the presence of previously untested relationship between trust and purchase intention. The existing model is extended by including the moderating effects of the nature of the medium of communication for the seller–customer interaction (i.e. face-to-face vs. telephonic communication), and the varying intangibility of the purchase context (i.e. product vs. service) on the above relationship. Third, evidence of the moderating influence of certain individual-level cultural value orientations (i.e. good vs. evil, changeable vs. unchangeable and doing vs. being) is found. It is also endeavoured to extend and validate the model to a new culture.

Relationship marketing investment, relationship quality, and behavioral intention: In the context of the relationship between destination marketing organizations and meeting/convention planners

This study examined relationships between destination marketing organizations and meeting planners, and investigated the moderating effect of familiarity on the relationships. Multivariate techniques were employed to analyze 277 planners’ perceptions (structural equation modeling), and to test the moderating effect (multi-group analysis). This study found that relationship marketing investment had a significant impact on relationship quality, which impacted behavioral intention while the moderating effect of familiarity was also significant. In addition, the most important activity for building a relationship between the planner and a destination marketing organization was personal sales calls. Practical implications of the results are discussed.

The mediating roles of renqing and ganqing in Chinese relationship marketing

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the roles of renqing (reciprocal favor) and ganqing (positive affect) as consequences of relationship marketing investments (three dimensions: financial, social and structural) and antecedents of customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative survey methodology using self-administered questionnaires has been adopted to collect data of 218 procurement staffs from the database of China Purchasing Managers’ Club. Hypotheses tests were conducted using structural equation modeling. Findings – The results reveal that financial and social relationship marketing investments, but not structural relationship marketing investments, are crucial in evoking renqing and ganqing. The results also provide strong evidence of the relationship between renqing and ganqing, which in turn are necessary determinants of customer loyalty. Originality/value – This research is among the first to examine and confirm renqing and ganqing as a mediating mechanism through which financial and social relationship marketing investments influence attitudinal loyalty, and also through attitudinal loyalty ultimately affects behavioral loyalty. Findings imply the need for Chinese firms in general, and business-to-business context in particular, to strategically lever on the key antecedents of customer loyalty including relationship marketing investments, renqing and ganqing, in pursuit of a more competitive advantage and long-term profit.

Why does loyalty–cooperation behavior vary over buyer–seller relationship?

This study argues that a favorable relationship (with trust and commitment) existing between two parties might not necessarily guarantee that subsequent transactions or partnerships can be stabilized. Each party in a relationship is required to conduct specific investments on behalf of the other to prevent discontinued trading or transaction relationships. Hence, this study combines relationship marketing and specific asset investment concepts within the transaction cost theory to investigate the relationship between inter-firm trust and commitment and loyalty and cooperation. By focusing on listed and over-the-counter-traded companies in Taiwan of industries that possess complete supply chains, this study collects 153 effective surveys for empirical analysis. The results show that commitment is more important than trust in a business-to-business (B2B) relationship for increasing the willingness of business customers and/or partners to participate in specific asset investments, thus increasing their loyalty and cooperation in the B2B relationship.

The influence of relationship marketing investments on customer gratitude in retailing

Customer gratitude represents the emotional core of reciprocity and plays a key force in developing and maintaining successful seller–buyer relational exchanges. Based upon personal interviews with 239 members of loyalty card programs of a department chain store, this study shows that alternative relationship marketing investments (i.e., direct mail, tangible rewards, interpersonal communication, and preferential treatment) have a differential influence on customers' gratitude and consequently behavioral loyalty. More specifically, results of this study indicate that preferential treatment is the most effective relationship marketing tactic to enhance customer gratitude, followed by interpersonal communication and tangible rewards, respectively. Management implications for retailers to increase customers' gratitude are discussed.

The role of relationship marketing investments in customer reciprocity

Purpose – This paper aims to, building on the concept of relational benefits, relationship marketing investments, gratitude, satisfaction and favorable reciprocal behaviors, examine the mechanism of cultivating relationships with valued customers at an upscale restaurant. Design/methodology/approach – To capture the traits of the population (upscale restaurant customers who perceive relationship marketing investments by experiencing relational benefits), upscale restaurant customers with membership cards were contacted in the survey. Structural equation modeling was used to test measurement and structural models. Findings – Empirical findings indicated that confidence and social benefits positively contributed to relationship marketing investments, whereas special treatment benefits were not significantly related to relationship marketing investments. In turn, relationship marketing investments positively affected both gratitude and satisfaction; relationship marketing investments were also more associated with gratitude than satisfaction. Gratitude positively evoked favorable reciprocal behaviors; however, satisfaction did not trigger favorable reciprocal behaviors. Originality/value – The integration of relationship marketing investments and gratitude into the conceptual model would allow the current findings to generate rich theoretical and practical implications that the extant hospitality literature has not elucidated.

The role of customer gratitude in making relationship marketing investments successful

This paper recognises that customer loyalty is important for many competitive organisations, and that retail firms make investments to build and maintain loyal relationships with their existing and potential customers (e.g. loyalty programs). However, there has been little focus on the mechanisms by which these relationship investments operate to achieve customer loyalty. This paper examines one mechanism, namely customer gratitude, which works to make a firm’s relationship marketing investment a success or a failure. Using data from 1600 undergraduate students, this study empirically confirms the mediating role of customer gratitude between the customers’ perceptions a firm’s relationship marketing investments and customers’ perceptions of the value of the relationship with the firm. Further, a significant moderating effect of perceived benevolence on the relationship between customers’ perceptions a firm’s relationship marketing investments and customer gratitude was identified. For theorists, this customer gratitude model offers a better psychological explanation of how relationship marketing investments operate to improve the value that customers place on their relationships with retailers. Our research suggests that managers should invest resources to stimulate customer gratitude in order to build strong customer–seller relationships.

Pengaruh Relationship Marketing Investment Dan Nilai-Nilai Bersama pada Niat untuk Menyumbang Melalui Kepercayaan Calon Donatur

This study tested the effect of relationship marketing investment and shared values to trust, and also tested the effect of trust on intentions of prospective donors to donation. Thus, this study examines the role of trust in relationship marketing in nonprofit organizations. Data was collected using questionnaires from 124 respondents in the form of prospective donor in badan/lembaga amil zakat. Analytical techniques used to examine the relationships between research constructs in the form of shared values, relationship marketing investment, trust and intentions to donate was the technique of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results showed that the shared values affecting trust of the prospective donor in badan/lembaga amil zakat. This study also proves that the trust has a positive effect on intention prospective donors to donation.
 Keywords: shared values, relationship marketing investment, trust.

Customer Retention Through Prioritization: Integrating Time-Dependent Context of Relationship Dynamics

ABSTRACT Most marketing researchers and practitioners emphasize sustaining strong customer relationships for improving profitability. Profitably managing customer relationships is, therefore, an important foundational cornerstone of marketing. In contrast, the role of effectively prioritizing customers for increasing profitability has been challenged in marketing literature. While there are divergent views on the principle of customer prioritization, the role of differential use of marketing instruments in managing relationship marketing investments to effectively retain customers is yet to be substantiated. The current study proposes a conceptual framework explicating the key role of customer prioritization in accounting for the effectiveness of relationship investments and interaction frequency. The effect of customer prioritization on customer retention is contingent upon the length of the relationship. We test the proposed framework with a multimethod approach to help ascertain the value of customer prioritization in enabling firms to effectively use relationship investments for customer retention. The findings also establish the moderating role of the relationship phase on customer retention over the length of the relationship.

The Role of Customer Gratitude in Relationship Marketing

Most theories of relationship marketing emphasize the role of trust and commitment in affecting performance outcomes; however, a recent meta-analysis indicates that other mediating mechanisms are at work. Data from two studies—a laboratory experiment and a dyadic longitudinal field survey—demonstrate that gratitude also mediates the influence of a seller's relationship marketing investments on performance outcomes. Specifically, relationship marketing investments generate short-term feelings of gratitude that drive long-lasting performance benefits based on gratitude-related reciprocal behaviors. The authors identify a set of managerially relevant factors and test their power to alter customer perceptions of relationship marketing investments to increase customer gratitude, which can make relationship marketing programs more effective. Overall, the research empirically demonstrates that gratitude plays an important role in understanding how relationship marketing investments increase purchase intentions, sales growth, and share of wallet.