Relationship quality: A critical literature review and research agenda

European Journal of Marketing

Volumn 43, Issue 5-6, 2009, Pages 583-610

  Athanasopoulou, Pinelopi ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PELOPONNESE   (Greece)

Author keywords

Customer retention; Relationship marketing; Research

Indexed keywords

EID: 69849086521     PISSN: 03090566     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/03090560910946945     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Athanasopoulou, P. (2006), Determining relationship quality in the development of business-to-business financial services, Journal of Business to Business Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 87-120.
2. Baker, T.L., Simpson, P.M. and Siguaw, J.A. (1999), The impact of suppliers' perceptions of reseller market orientation on key relationship constructs, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 50-7.
3. Bejou, D., Wray, B. and Ingram, T.N. (1996), Determinants of relationship quality: an artificial neural network analysis, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 137-43.
4. Bennett, R. and Barkensjo, A. (2005), Relationship quality, relationship marketing, and client perceptions of the levels of service quality of charitable organisations, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 81-106.
5. Boles, J.S., Johnson, J.T. and Barksdale, H.C. Jr (2000), How salespeople build quality relationships: a replication and extension, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 48 No. 1, pp. 75-81.
6. Bowen, J.T. and Shoemaker, S. (1998), Loyalty: a strategic commitment, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 39 No. 1, February, pp. 12-25.
7. Carr, C.L. (2006), Reciprocity: the golden rule of IS - user service relationship quality and cooperation. Seeking a mutually beneficial relationship between departments and users, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 49 No. 6, pp. 77-83.
8. Crosby, L.A., Evans, K.R. and Cowles, D. (1990), Relationship quality in services selling: an interpersonal influence perspective, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 3, pp. 68-81.
9. de Ruyeter, K., Moorman, L. and Lemmink, J. (2001), Antecedents of commitment and trust in customer-supplier relationships in high technology markets, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 271-86.
10. Doney, P.M. and Cannon, J.P. (1997), An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 61 No. 2, April, pp. 35-51.
11. Dorsch, M.J., Swanson, S.R. and Kelley, S.W. (1998), The role of relationship quality in the stratification of vendors as perceived by customers, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 128-42.
12. Dwyer, F.R. and Oh, S. (1987), Output sector munificence effects on the internal political economy of marketing channels, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 347-58.
13. Dwyer, F.R., Schurr, P.H. and Oh, S. (1987), Developing buyer-seller relationships, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, April, pp. 11-27.
14. Farrelly, F.J. and Quester, P.G. (2005), Examining important relationship quality constructs of the focal sponsorship exchange, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 211-19.
15. Friman, M., Gärling, T., Millet, B., Mattsson, J. and Johnston, R. (2002), An analysis of international business-to-business relationships based on the commitment-trust theory, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 31, pp. 403-9.
16. Fynes, B., de Burca, S. and Marshall, D. (2004), Environmental uncertainty, supply chain relationship quality and performance, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Vol. 10 Nos 4-5, pp. 179-90.
17. Garbarino, E. and Johnson, M.S. (1999), The different roles of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer relationships, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 63 No. 2, April, pp. 70-87.
18. Goodman, L.E. and Dion, P.A. (2001), The determinants of commitment in the distributor-manufacturer relationship, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 30, pp. 287-300.
19. Gwinner, K.P., Gremler, D.D. and Bitner, M.J. (1998), Relational benefits in services industries: the customer's perspective, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 101-14.
20. Han, S.-L., Wilson, D.T. and Dant, S. (1993), Buyer-seller relationships today, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 331-8
21. Hennig-Thurau, T. (2000), Relationship quality and customer retention through strategic communication of customer skills, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 16 Nos 1/3, pp. 55-79.
22. Hennig-Thurau, T. and Klee, A. (1997), The impact of customer satisfaction and relationship quality on customer retention - a critical reassessment and model development, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 8, December, pp. 737-65.
23. Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K.P. and Gremler, D.D. (2002), Understanding relationship marketing outcomes: an integration of relational benefits and relationship quality, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 230-47.
24. Hewett, K., Money, R.B. and Sharma, S. (2002), An exploration of the moderating role of buyer corporate culture in industrial buyer-seller relationships, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 229-39.
25. Hibbard, J.D., Kumar, N. and Stern, L.W. (2001), Examining the impact of destructive acts in marketing channel relationships, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 45-61.
26. Hofstede, G. (1983), Cultural dimensions for project management, Project Management, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 41-8.
27. Hofstede, G. (1994), The business of international business is culture, International Business Review, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 1-14.
28. Hopkinson, G.C. and Hogarth-Scott, S. (1999), Franchise relationship quality: micro-economic explanations, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 Nos 9/10, pp. 827-43.
29. Huang, H.H. and Chiu, C.K. (2006), Exploring customer satisfaction, trust and destination loyalty in tourism, Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 156-9.
30. Huntley, J.K. (2006), Conceptualization and measurement of relationship quality: linking relationship quality to actual sales and recommendation intention, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 703-14.
31. Jap, S.D., Manolis, C. and Weitz, B.A. (1999), Relationship quality and buyer-seller interactions in channels of distribution, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 46 No. 3, pp. 303-13.
32. Johnson, J.L. (1999), Strategic integration in industrial distribution channels: managing the interfirm relationship as a strategic asset, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 4-18.
33. Johnson, J.L., Sakano, T., Cote, J.A. and Onzo, N. (1993), The exercise of interfirm power and its repercussions in US-Japanese channel relationships, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 57 No. 2, April, pp. 1-10.
34. Keating, B., Rugimbana, R. and Quazi, A. (2003), Differentiating between service quality and relationship quality in cyberspace, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 217-32.
35. Kumar, N., Scheer, L.K. and Steenkamp, J.E. (1995), The effects of supplier fairness on vulnerable resellers, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 54-65.
36. Lagace, R.R., Dahlstrom, R. and Gassenheimer, J.B. (1991), The relevance of ethical salesperson behavior on relationship quality: the pharmaceutical industry, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 39-47.
37. Lages, C., Lages, C.R. and Lages, L.F. (2005), The RELQUAL scale: a measure of relationship quality in export market ventures, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58 No. 8, pp. 1040-8.
38. Lang, B. and Colgate, M. (2003), Relationship quality, online banking and the information technology gap, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 29-37.
39. Leonidou, L.C., Barnes, B.R. and Talias, M.A. (2006), Exporter-importer relationship quality: the inhibiting role of uncertainty, distance, and conflict, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 576-88.
40. Leuthesser, L. (1997), Supplier relational behaviour: an empirical assessment, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 245-54.
41. Lin, C.P. and Ding, C.G. (2006), Evaluating group differences in gender during the formation of relationship quality and loyalty in ISP service, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 38-62.
42. Menon, A., Bharadwaj, S.G. and Howell, R.D. (1996), The quality and effectiveness of marketing strategy: effect of functional and dysfunctional conflict in intra-organizational relationships, Journal of The Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 299-313.
43. Moorman, C., Zaltman, G. and Deshpandé, R. (1992), Relationships between providers and users of market research: the dynamics of trust within and between organizations, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 314-28.
44. Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, S.D. (1994), The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 3, July, pp. 20-38.
45. Naudé, P. and Buttle, F. (2000), Assessing relationship quality, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 351-61.
46. Ndubisi, N.O. (2006), A structural equation modeling of the antecedents of relationship quality in the Malaysia banking sector, Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Vol. 11, pp. 131-41.
47. Papassapa, R. and Miller, K.E. (2007), Relationship quality as a predictor of B2B customer loyalty, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 60 No. 1, pp. 21-31.
48. Park, J.E. and Deitz, G.D. (2006), The effect of working relationship quality on salesperson performance and job satisfaction: adaptive selling behavior in Korean automobile sales representatives, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 59 No. 2, pp. 204-13.
49. Ramaseshan, B., Yip, L.S. and Pae, J.H. (2006), Power, satisfaction and relationship commitment in Chinese store-tenant relationship and their impact on performance, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 82 No. 1, pp. 63-70.
50. Sanzo, M.S., Santos, M.L., Vásquez, R. and Álvarez, L.I. (2003), The effect of market orientation on buyer-seller relationship satisfaction, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 327-45.
51. Scanlan, L. and McPhail, J. (2000), Forming service relationships with hotel business travellers: the critical attributes to improve retention, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 491-513.
52. Selnes, F. (1998), Antecedents and consequences of trust and satisfaction in buyer-seller relationships, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32 Nos 3/4, pp. 305-22.
53. Smith, J.B. (1998a), Buyer-seller relationships: bonds, relationship management, and sex-type, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 76-92.
54. Smith, J.B. (1998b), Buyer-seller relationships: similarity, relationship management, and quality, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 1, January, pp. 3-21.
55. Storbacka, K., Strandvik, T. and Grönroos, C. (1994), Managing customer relationships for profit: the dynamics of relationship quality, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 21-38.
56. Ulaga, W. and Eggert, A. (2006), Relationship value and relationship quality: broadening the nomological network of business-to-business relationships, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Nos 3/4, pp. 311-27.
57. Van Bruggen, G.H., Kacker, M. and Nieuwlaat, C. (2005), The impact of channel function performance on buyer-seller relationships in marketing channels, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 141-58.
58. Venetis, K.A. and Ghauri, P.N. (2004), Service quality and customer retention: building long-term relationships, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 38 Nos 11/12, pp. 1577-98.
59. Walter, A., Muller, T., Helfert, G. and Ritter, T. (2003), Functions of industrial supplier relationships and their impact on relationship quality, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 159-69.
60. Wilson, D.T. and Jantrania, S. (1996), Understanding the value of a relationship, Asia-Australia Marketing Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 55-66.
61. Wong, A. and Sohal, A. (2002a), An examination of the relationship between trust, commitment and relationship quality, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 34-50.
62. Wong, A. and Sohal, A. (2002b), Customers' perspectives on service quality and relationship quality in retail encounters, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 424-33.
63. Woo, G.K. and Cha, Y. (2002), Antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in hotel industry, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 321-38.
64. Woo, K. and Ennew, C.T. (2004), Business-to-business relationship quality: an IMP interaction-based conceptualisation and measurement, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 38 Nos 9/10, pp. 1252-71.
65. Wray, B., Palmer, A. and Bejou, D. (1994), Using neural network analysis to evaluate buyer-seller relationships, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 10, pp. 32-48.
66. Zineldin, M. (1995), Bank-company interactions and relationships: some empirical evidence, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 30-40.
67. Anderson, E. and Weitz, B. (1992), The use of pledges to build and sustain commitment in distribution channels, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 18-34.
68. Anderson, J.C. and Narus, J.A. (1990), A model of distributor firm and manufacturer firm working partnerships, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 1, pp. 42-58.
69. Barnes, J.G. (1994), The issue of establishing relationships with customers in service companies: when are relationships feasible and what form should they take?, paper presented at the 3rd Annual "Frontiers in Services" Conference, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, October 6-8.
70. Barnes, J.G. (1997), Closeness, strength, and satisfaction: examining the nature of relationships between providers of financial services and their retail customers, Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 8, pp. 765-90.
71. Berry, L.L. (1995), Relationship marketing of services growing interest, emerging perspectives, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 236-45
72. Ganesan, S. (1994), Determinants of long-term orientation in buyer-seller relationships, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 2, April, pp. 1-19.
73. Geyskens, I., Steenkamp, J.B.E.M. and Kumar, N. (1998), Generalizations about trust in marketing channel relationships using meta-analysis, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 3, July, pp. 223-48.
74. Geyskens, I., Steenkamp, J.B.E.M. and Kumar, N. (1999), A meta-analysis of satisfaction in marketing channel relationships, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 223-38.
75. Geyskens, I., Steenkamp, J.B.E.M., Scheer, L.K. and Kumar, N. (1996), The effects of trust and interdependence on relationship commitment: a trans-atlantic study, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 303-17.
76. Gummesson, E. (2002), Total Relationship Marketing, 2nd ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
77. Gundlach, G.T., Achrol, R.S. and Mentzer, J.T. (1995), The structure of commitment in exchange, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59 No. 1, January, pp. 78-92.
78. Hofstede, G. (1989), Organising for cultural diversity, European Management Journal, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 390-7.
79. Menon, A., Bharadwaj, S.G., Adidam, P.T. and Edison, S.W. (1999), Antecedents and consequences of marketing strategy making: a model and a test, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 63 No. 2, pp. 18-40.
80. Palmer, A. and Bejou, D. (1994), Buyer-seller relationships: a conceptual model and empirical investigation, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 495-512.
81. Price, L.L. and Arnould, E.J. (1999), Commercial friendships: service provider-client relationships in context, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 63 No. 4, October, pp. 38-56.