Relationship Marketing Paradigm Research Articles

Connecting the vital link nodes to superior value creation in private health-care marketing in Ghana: a relationship marketing paradigm

PurposeThis study aims to explore the utility of relationship marketing (RM) practices in achieving customer loyalty (CL) via customer satisfaction (CS) as the mediator.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sampling of 592 customers of private hospitals was used to generate data. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse data to generate findings.FindingsThe study establishes a direct positive association between RM practices and CL. The study also found that CS mediates the relationship between RM practices and CL.Practical implicationsThe study reinforces the role of RM as a significant driver of marketing performance in private hospitals.Originality/valueThe results are intended to guide policymakers of private hospitals to manage relationships to gain competitive advantage.

Relationship factors and firms' willingness-to-pay: A comparison of east-west settings

The aim of this study is to examine the underlying mechanism that explains the effects of supplier firms' sustained competitive advantage (SCA) on customer firms' willingness-to-pay a price premium (WTP) across Eastern and Western settings. Drawing upon the relationship marketing (RM) paradigm, we posit that SCA influences WTP via calculative commitment and relationship quality (RQ). A survey involving executives from Australian (n = 336) and Chinese (n = 360) firms was conducted to test the theoretical model. The findings reveal that the effect of SCA on WTP is mediated by RQ and calculative commitment among Chinese firms. Among Australian firms, however, the effect of SCA on WTP is mediated only by RQ and not calculative commitment. The study contributes to the literature by distinguishing the role of ‘rational’ (i.e., calculative commitment) and ‘emotional’ (i.e., affective commitment and RQ) relationship factors in influencing WTP, and by validating a multidimensional RQ model that is applicable to culturally diverse contexts. To marketing practitioners, this research helps to identify the conditions under which RM practices can be effective for B2B firms that operate across diverse cultures.

How can perceived consistency in marketing communications influence customer–brand relationship outcomes?

This paper examines the impact of perceived consistency in marketing communications on customer–brand relationship outcomes. The perception of consistent message and image through different marketing communication tools is one of the basic principles of the integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach. Although literature suggests that IMC might have an influence on customer–brand relationship outcomes, empirical evidence that supports this assumption is still weak and inconclusive. Three main brand relationship outcomes are established for the purpose of the study, i.e. trust, commitment, and loyalty. The relationships between perceived communication consistency and brand outcomes are examined in a hospitality context on a sample of 452 respondents who had to evaluate fast-food brands. Structural Equation Modelling was employed as the main technique for data analysis using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Results reveal that communication consistency has a strong direct impact on brand trust and brand loyalty. Although its influence on affective brand commitment is found to be positive, it is not statistically significant. The interrelationship between three brand relationship outcomes is also corroborated. The study contributes to our understanding of the role of IMC in the relationship marketing paradigm and provides deeper insights into the impact of communication consistency on different relationship outcomes with fast-food brands.

Relationship Value and Relationship Quality: An Exploration of Its Antecedents on Customer Loyalty

The aim of this study is to examine relationship value and relationship quality, and its effect on customer loyalty in the context of relationship marketing. Four key relationship value variables of economic value, service value, relational value and social value are examined in this study. The study focuses on the Malaysian telecommunication industry and based on the business-to-customer environment. The structural equation modelling technique is used to empirically test the proposed hypotheses using a sample of 350 customers collected by a questionnaire survey. The results showed that three relationship value variables of economic value, service value, and social value have significantly influenced relationship quality. Customer loyalty is significantly affected by relationship quality. There is no significant effect of relational value and relationship quality. The contribution of this paper is twofold. From a theoretical perspective, the social exchange theory is used to explain and conceptualize relationship marketing paradigms. It offers both a conceptual foundation and empirical-based evaluation of customer loyalty through the context of relationship value and relationship quality. The relationship value dimensions of economic value, service value, and social value is the antecedent to relationship quality, which lead to customer loyalty. In the practical perspective, the findings proposed that the telecommunication service providers should focus on relationship value through providing better value for money packages, innovation of services and improve social interaction with customers to build stronger relationship quality and achieve customer loyalty.

Consumer-Generated Reviews on Social Media and Brand Relationship Outcomes in the Fast-Food Chain Industry

ABSTRACTA number of studies agree on the fact that social media users tend to trust more the contents created by other users than those generated by companies’ marketing departments or advertising agencies. However, little is known regarding whether social media can actually enhance brand trust and other brand relationship outcomes that are deemed critical to the hospitality marketing literature. This paper seeks to offer some important insight on this issue by examining the impact of consumer-generated reviews on social media on four main pillars of the relationship marketing paradigm, i.e., satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty. The inter-relationship between brand outcomes is also examined. The findings suggest that consumer-generated reviews on social media exert a direct impact on affective brand commitment and an indirect impact on brand loyalty. However, their influence on brand satisfaction and trust appears to be insignificant. The inter-relationship between brand relationship outcomes is also corroborated.

What makes a website relational? The experts' viewpoint

Around the world, companies have launched an abundance of websites to reinforce their links with customers. While these websites include relational features (e.g., communities and areas for regular visitors, electronic bulletin boards, forums, and RSS feeds), can they be considered relational according to the relationship marketing paradigm? To answer this question, we conduct a qualitative study with 19 Internet experts. The results show that two approaches can be used to define a relational website. The first approach suggests that a website's relationship proneness (WRP) is driven by three dimensions: content, exchange, and look and feel. The second approach is enumerative: the more electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) features a website offers, the more relational it is considered to be. Managerial and theoretical implications lie in the complementary relationship between these two approaches.

B2B commitment building in emerging markets: the case of Brazil

The research examines the suitability of relationship marketing paradigms to emerging markets (EMs) through the lens of communication, relationship benefits and commitment. Using the U.S. as a developed nation sample and Brazil as a proxy for EM countries like the BRIC nations, a B2B buyer–supplier commitment-building model is conceptualized and tested for context-specific boundaries. The study compares communication behaviors and relationship benefits along functional, psychological and social dimensions to discern the evaluation process and governance mechanisms influenced by an EM buyer’s institutional environment. Results showed that buyers from relation-based EMs like Brazil base their relationship commitment more on the psychological attributes of the partnership, while a buyer’s commitment-building process in rule-based, developed nations like the US is largely influenced by functional attributes.

Relações de Negócio em Hotelaria: Um Modelo Estrutural Aplicado ao Segmento Empresarial

This article aims to conduct research on the influence of the importance and quality of business relationships on a company’s decision to maintain its relationship with a certain hotel. To address the issue, we propose a model tested based on data from a survey of a final sample of 483 representatives from Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who expressed their perceptions about the business relationships with their key partners in a hotel chain. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling statistical technique. The study produced several important results. The quality of the relationship is influenced by interpersonal variables, highlighting the role of Client Manager (i.e. the representative of the hotel), and other variables associated to the relationship itself. As for the importance of the relationship, several factors emerge as significant indicators such as the benefits of the relationship and the costs of its interruption. The results suggest that the importance of the relationship plays a major role in determining the propensity for future interaction. As regards theoretical contribution, this research adds value to the relationship marketing paradigm because we test and validate a model of the influence of the importance of the relationship, in addition to the quality of the relationship, and the propensity of future interaction between SMEs and hotels. This study also suggests practical management-related implications, in light of the success of relationship marketing strategies, and with the goal of customer loyalty and profitability of the business relationship which they have established.

Business relations in hospitality: A structural model applied to the corporate segment

This article aims to conduct research on the influence of the importance and quality of business relationships on a company’s decision to maintain its relationship with a certain hotel. To address the issue, we propose a model tested based on data from a survey of a final sample of 483 representatives from Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who expressed their perceptions about the business relationships with their key partners in a hotel chain. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling statistical technique. The study produced several important results. The quality of the relationship is influenced by interpersonal variables, highlighting the role of Client Manager (i.e. the representative of the hotel), and other variables associated to the relationship itself. As for the importance of the relationship, several factors emerge as significant indicators such as the benefits of the relationship and the costs of its interruption. The results suggest that the importance of the relationship plays a major role in determining the propensity for future interaction. As regards theoretical contribution, this research adds value to the relationship marketing paradigm because we test and validate a model of the influence of the importance of the relationship, in addition to the quality of the relationship, and the propensity of future interaction between SMEs and hotels. This study also suggests practical management-related implications, in light of the success of relationship marketing strategies, and with the goal of customer loyalty and profitability of the business relationship which they have established.

Developing a New Theory of Frontline Manufacturer-Retailer Relationships for Consumer Packaged Goods

ABSTRACTPurpose: Frontline employees from consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, and the retailers’ employees who they interact with, play a crucial role in the in-store execution of product promotions and in ensuring that products are available for shoppers. This article investigates the development of interpersonal relationships between these frontline actors at the store-level of analysis and how these relationships influence in-store processes. We consider the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for sales force recruiting and sales management in the CPG retail channel.Methodology/approach: Frontline relationships and in-store execution remain relatively under researched fields in the sales management and retail literatures. Given the lack of a well-established theoretical framework, we conducted a qualitative study in the grounded theory research tradition. We interviewed frontline personnel from manufacturers and retailers, their immediate managers and headquarters personnel and other industry experts. We took a holistic approach to data collection; also gathering other types of written, photo and video data for the purpose of iterative data analysis and developing a mid-range theory of relationship development between manufacturer representatives and retailer employees, the frontline employees tasked with executing marketing and merchandising strategies in the store.Findings: We develop a model of frontline relationship development and performance consisting of 4 distinct stages: (1) working alongside, (2) building respect, (3) cooperative relationship (helping hands), and (4) collaborative partnership. We compare our findings with existing relationship marketing and relationship management theories. We find that an alternative theoretical framework may suit the particularities of the CPG retail channel better.Research implications: This article provides insight into a very specific but important type of business-to-business relationships in the CPG retail channel that have seen little scholarly attention. It calls for re-evaluating the relevance of existing relationship marketing and sales management paradigms in the CPG retail channel. Future research could investigate the extent to which our model is applicable in sales environments beyond the CPG retail channel.Practical implications: The study’s findings contribute to the practice of relationship marketing and sales management in the CPG retail channel. We present a case for a different approach of managing manufacturer-retailer relationships at the store level, a more functional tactic, which seems to deliver higher relationship performance than expected under the relationship marketing paradigm prevalent in sales and retail literatures. This different approach has direct consequences for the recruitment and management of a CPG sales force.

The Influence of Marketing Communication on the Consumer’s Buyer Behavior – A Relationship Marketing Approach

Abstract The purpose of the paper is to identify the nature of the influence of a company’s marketing communication of the actual consumer behaviour. To achieve this purpose, the paper is structures in two parts; firstly, the recent literature regarding relationship marketing paradigm is reviewed and the value chain concept is presented. The second part contains a survey-based research which uses book-store customers as target unit. Sales promotion and advertising are used as input variables in identifying the variation in the client’s buying behaviour. Client behaviour was measured through three variables: monetary value spent by the clients within their last purchasing experience, buying frequency of the clients, and their buying intention.

Opportunism in buyer–seller relationships: Some unexplored antecedents

Opportunism is recognized as a key factor that can affect the quality of relationship between buyers and sellers. However, there is a relative lack of research in the antecedents of opportunism. This paper draws upon transaction cost economics and relationship marketing paradigms to propose a conceptual framework involving six potential antecedents. Data from 270 franchisees in a Korea based franchise system is used to test the hypotheses. Results from a structural equation model show that the conflict in a relationship significantly increases franchisee opportunism. Furthermore, conflict mediates the effects of other antecedents in the framework which include alternative attractiveness, goal incongruity, unfairness, transaction-specific investments, and termination cost. The study provides theoretical and managerial insights into understanding and controlling opportunism.

The Antecedents of Communication in Buyer-Seller Relationships

Communication in buyer-seller relationships has an important role in boosting relationship performance. As a conceptual paper, this study proposes the antecedents of communication in buyer-seller relationships based on relationship marketing and transaction cost paradigms. From a literature review on relationship marketing and transaction cost literature, this study proposes the eight possible antecedents of communication - conflict, opportunism, unfairness, goal incongruity, cooperation, trust, satisfaction, and relational norms. Consequently, this study extends knowledge on how to boost communication in buyer-seller relationships. This study provides bright avenues and theoretical backgrounds for future empirical studies related to communication in buyer-seller relationships. This study provides helpful insights to academics and practitioners who are interested in understanding and utilizing communication as a tool for boosting relationship performance as well.

Consumption as biopower: Governing bodies with loyalty cards

For more than a decade, many retail companies have been collecting large volumes of data on a daily basis through loyalty card programmes. These programmes gather, at point-of-purchase, the identity of the consumer, date and time of the transaction, and the list of products purchased. With the help of data mining techniques, companies can use this data to get a better knowledge of their customer and to address them personally with targeted advertisement. This “mass customization”, which is at the core of the relationship marketing paradigm, has traditionally been viewed as a means of customizing services to meet the needs of an existing market. However, it appears also to be invested in actually customizing consumers to meet market needs. To investigate this aspect of relationship marketing, a study was conducted to examine the extent to which companies in Switzerland use data-mining technologies and strategies, their data collection and analysis practices, the privacy risks posed by such practices, and the modalities of power they create. As a result, and as it will be developed in this article, I finally theorized surveillance of consumption as being a much elaborated form of biopower, which strongly relies on the use of data mining to reveal patterns in consumption. This biopower is actually growing as data collected through loyalty programmes is now becoming a prime target for other purposes than pure marketing, such as helping the fight of health policies against obesity, or to control the consumer’s intake of food additive. These new kind of practices bring major ethical issues that are also discussed in this article.

Power‐base Research in Marketing Channels: A Narrative Review

This paper provides a contemporary and comprehensive review of work in the marketing channel field that is based on French and Raven's power‐base theory. It traces the development of theoretic, conceptual and methodological orthodoxies from the 1970s. Mirroring the movement towards the relationship marketing paradigm, the paper considers the theory's empirical contribution to knowledge of power, conflict, trust and commitment in marketing channels. Limitations relating to inconsistency of treatment, contradictory findings and the simplification of complex phenomena are identified. Nevertheless, current work extends power‐base theory to other cultures, other styles of research and to the area of supply chains. The review raises questions about the value of contribution made using this theory and notes the surprising absence within the channels literature of the broader, current debate about power. To illustrate, the paper shows how Clegg's (1989. Frameworks of Power. London: Sage) circuits of power framework, if applied to channel contexts, could address forms of power that are invisible, anonymous and not necessarily negative. Applications and methods are discussed, opening a space wherein a broadened understanding of power is integrated within a focus upon cooperative channels.

Relationship marketing and the order of simulation

This paper applies Jean Baudrillard’s order of simulacra to further investigate the paradigm of relationship marketing (RM). A brief overview of RM is given, followed by a summary of the main critical perspectives taken towards the approach. We argue that Baudrillard’s theories of simulation and post-industrial culture provide a useful analytical approach through which to resolve some of these critiques. Relationships are simultaneously ‘real’ and ‘imagined’. In the culture of simulation all cultural forms, including relationships, are open to critical analysis and interrogation. They are a construct that results from the complex interplay between signs, code and programme, which for our purposes are manifest as the market, marketing institutions and marketing technologies.

Exploring customer switching intentions through relationship marketing paradigm

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of customer switching and the reasons that underlie customer‐switching intentions. The paper aims to focus on the various factors on account of which a customer may or may not switch a particular bank.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 800 bank customers were selected randomly from a total population of 71,600 and were contacted personally to gather the requisite data.Findings – The paper finds that the model reveals significant effect of quality, satisfaction and trust on predicting switching barriers. Of these relationships, satisfaction emerged as the strongest factor which influences switching barriers.Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to Indian banks; a larger empirical study would be useful to replicate the results in the banking as well as other services.Practical implications – In order to ensure loyalty among bank customers, increased value addition in the banking services and wide‐ranging relationships ...

Complementary effects of relational bonds in information asymmetry contexts

PurposeThe marketing literature theorizes the adoption of the relationship marketing paradigm to foster stronger customer relationships. However, empirical evidence is scarce on how consumers' ability to judge the service influences such relational exchange. This paper aims to examine how information asymmetry influences a service firm's initiative to build customer relationships. The relationship marketing literature proposes conceptually that relational bonds and their interaction influence relationship outcomes. However, there is no empirical study to verify such an interactive effect. This study aims to provide empirical evidence on how interaction effects between relational bonds can act as buffers in developing customer relationships.Design/methodology/approachIn the first stage, this study classifies financial services offered by retail banks into search, experience, and credence (SEC) categories. In the second stage, this paper uses survey data from 452 UK retail bank customers to understand the effect of relational bonds on consumer future intentions in information asymmetry context using hierarchical regressions.FindingsThe results show that relational bonds have differential impacts on firms' initiative to develop consumer relationship, and information asymmetry moderates this relationship. A positive synergistic association is present between relational bonds that strengthen their effectiveness in influencing relationships.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to demonstrate the moderation role of information asymmetry on relational bonds→relationship quality→relationship outcome framework. The findings provide directions to managers on how to have a balanced approach in their relationship building efforts.

Towards developing a service delivery improvement model for the Malaysian Hotel sector

The Malaysian hotel industry has experienced significant growth in the last 10 years and many hotels in Malaysia are now opulent, new hotels achieving the highest standards of presentation. However, service delivery often lags behind the physical environment, struggles to meet international standards and ergo the expectations ofinternational guests. There are diverse views among service quality researchers as to how to improve service delivery standards. Consequently, this study seeks to develop an appropriate service delivery improvement model that provides a framework that can be used to attract, train, motivate and retain hotel employees. Within the literature many strategies have been presented that are designed to enhance both products and services in a variety of contexts. Among the better known ofthese are Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma (SS), SERVQUAL (SQ), the Relationship Marketing paradigm (RM), Internal Marketing (1M) and Internal Market Orientation (IMO). The general view among scholars, however, is that there is a link between employee satisfaction and job performance. This article examines and analyses the most significant elements of various product and service improvement models, and presents a revised service delivery improvement model as afirst step in customising a modelfor the Malaysian hotel sector. The research concludes that a number of these elements are critical to service improvement, the authors note that the implementation of such a model will need to be further developed with assistance from industry stakeholders in Malaysia.

The Effects of Service Quality and Relationship Benefits on Relationship Commitment and Customer Loyalty in Membership Fitness Club

Abstract Relationship marketing is not a new phenomenon, but is now one of the most important topics in marketing academia and the business community. For marketing practitioners, greater benefits may arise by perceiving relationship marketing as an underlying philosophy of caring for customers. In the Academy, many scholars have suggested a new marketing paradigm based on relationship marketing. The rationale behind relationship marketing is to create, enhance, and maintain relationships with customers. Increasing and securing loyalty is central to many corporate strategies because obtaining new customer is costly and customer retention is connected to long-term profitability. Commitment is recognized as the key component in the relationship marketing paradigm and social exchange theory. The health care industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries. The modern health care sector is divided into many sub-sectors, and depends on interdisciplinary teams of trained professionals and p...