Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Literature review and theoretical background

3. Methodology

4. Research findings

5. Discussion and implications

Declaration of Competing Interest

Appendix 1: Interview guide

References

Vitae

Abstract

Studies on social media use and effectiveness in large firms abound in the literature. However, social media usage for relationship marketing in small and medium enterprises is under-researched. This research examined how social media affordances influence SMEs’ relationships with their customers. The Technology Affordance theory was utilized as the theoretical framework. Furthermore, a case study was used as the research design. The study’s participants were SME owners/managers operating in Ghana. The thematic analysis technique was used to analyze data. The study identified three affordances of social media in the context of relationship marketing in SMEs: brand visibility, sharing, and relationship. These social media affordances result in customer acquisition. The findings and their implications have been discussed in the paper.

1. Introduction

There has been considerable interest in the impact of social media on businesses among researchers, policymakers, and management of corporate organizations in recent years (Suryani et al., 2021). Social media are internet-based programs that allow users to create and share user-generated content (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Hanafizadeh et al. (2021) identified Social networking sites (example, WhatsApp, Line, Telegram, and WeChat), Content communities (example, YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo), Blogs (Twitter, Blogspot), and Online forums & discussion(TripAdvisor, Yelp, and FourSquare) as the types of social media. Different marketing objectives are achieved by using social media, including creating brand affinity, increasing sales prospects, improving customer service, and driving favorable customer attitudes (Misirlis & Vlachopoulou, 2018; Wood and Khan, 2016).

Furthermore, social media assists firms in improving contact with their customers, increasing the level of trust and relationship building and facilitating the identification of possible business partners (Misirlis & Vlachopoulou, 2018; Meske and Stieglitz, 2013; Kelleher and Sweetser, 2012; Michaelidou et al., 2011).

Although large organizations dominate the use of social media, research has proven that they are crucial tools for small and medium-sized businesses (Meske and Stieglitz, 2013; Rahmawati et al., 2020). Currently, more than 90 million small companies are active on Facebook (Facebook, 2021). In Ghana, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use popular social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to market their operations and communicate with their clients (Odoom et al., 2017).

2. Relationship marketing technology toolbox: opportunities and challenges

2.1. E-commerce and m-commerce channels

2.2. Social networks

2.3. Anthropomorphized agents

2.4. Big data

3. Relationship marketing implications of the COVID-19 global pandemic

3.1. COVID-19 as a catalyser of relationship marketing opportunities

3.2. COVID-19 as a catalyser of relationship marketing challenges

4. Conclusion

References

Introduction

The concept of relationship marketing in the academic marketing literature is almost 40 years old. Since its inaugural mentioning (Berry, 1983), a rich body of conceptual and empirical research papers as well as popular business books has evolved, establishing the consensus view among academics and managers that strong customer relationships are key to company prosperity and performance (e.g., Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Palmatier et al., 2006). With the digital age, rather than entering its maturity stage, relationship marketing is experiencing its next upsurge, such that nourishing customer relationships is “more critical than ever before” (Palmatier and Steinhoff, 2019, p. 21). Specifically, the exponential advancements in technology revolutionize the way in which customers and companies interact (Steinhoff et al., 2019). Relationships in which relational interactions are mediated partially or even fully by technological means are ubiquitous. Today already, customers are estimated to maintain about 85% of their relationships with firms without any human intervention (Gartner, 2011). Relationship marketers dispose of a rich and ever-evolving technology toolbox to build, grow, and retain strong relationships with their customers (Steinhoff et al., 2019). However, beyond the opportunities for enhancing relationships, each tool also entails challenges. Managers seem eager to learn about these new technology tools and benefit from their potential advantages; accordingly, growth rates of managers’ relationship marketing spending continuously outpace those of brand spending (eMarketer, 2016).

Conclusion

In the digital age we live in, relationship marketing is of ever-increasing relevance for company success and prosperity (Palmatier and Steinhoff, 2019). The strong conceptual foundations of relationship marketing established over four decades of academic research encounter an increasingly elaborate and sophisticated toolbox of technologies to support companies in their efforts to engage customers in successful relational exchanges. However, simply adopting these promising digital tools does not guarantee effectiveness; firms have to do it right. In this commentary, we have presented four major technological trends (ecommerce and m-commerce channels, social networks, anthropomorphized agents, big data) and discussed the opportunities and challenges involved in each. The current COVID-19 global pandemic has acted like a magnifying lens for both these potentials and pitfalls, thereby representing a particularly fruitful and important learning experience to relationship marketers.

Findings from extant research and observations from business practice have paved the way for rich future research opportunities (see Steinhoff et al., 2019 for a research agenda). Profound insights are needed on the contingencies of the diverse technology tools, such that managers can leverage each tool’s bright sides while alleviating its inherent dark sides. Beyond, we encourage work on the interplay of the different components of the toolbox and their joint contributions to overall relationship performance. In conclusion, we feel confident that especially in these times of economic turmoil coming along with a global pandemic, the value of customer relationships will mount even further (Binder and Hanssens, 2015), such that those companies with strong customer relationships find themselves in a promising position to overcome the crisis and thrive in the long run.

This paper discusses tourism innovation developed by hosts of sharing accommodation, based on the outcomes of guests’ value co-creation. In this process, relationship marketing is a central aspect of peer-to-peer business models, analysed as a catalyst of innovation. The authors conducted thirty in-depth interviews with Portuguese hosts of Airbnb accommodations in order to understand the integration of guests’ value co-creation through relational mechanisms in the innovation of their businesses. The results evidence that it is established a close relationship marketing with guests during their stay. This fact is considered critical for the co-creation of the tourism experience and to increment innovation in the accommodation services. The main innovation outcomes are incremental and connected to the provided facilities, amenities and partnerships with other businesses. This happens not only through the user generated contents of online reviews, but also with the constant interpersonal contact established between guests and hosts.

Introduction

Peer-to-peer online platforms have created new business models and brought changes in the way customers feel and express experiences. In tourism, and particularly local sharing accommodation, peer-to-peer online platforms have created a new dynamic of relationships and trust between guests and hosts, who are under mandatory reviews of each other’s, as part of the business model (Moon, Miao, Hanks, & Line, 2019; Prayag & Ozanne, 2018). Interaction with hosts is a key motivation for those who look for a shared accommodation, in order to live authentic experiences and face loneliness (Farmaki & Stergiou, 2019; Paulauskaite, Powell, Coca-Stefaniak, & Morrison, 2017), with consequences in the intensification of interpersonal communication (Bridges & Vásquez, 2018). Considering the phenomenon of co-creation of value in customer-tocustomer platforms (Rihova, Buhalis, Gouthro, & Moital, 2018), guests take an active role in the experience (Bridges & Vásquez, 2018; Moon et al., 2019). Online reviews, besides influencing future prospects (Pelsmacker, Tiburg, & Holthof, 2018; Tsao, Hsieh, Shih, & Lin, 2015), may also be seen by hosts as important assets for value co-creation, paving the way for open innovation in their accommodation businesses. In this sense, the need to constantly delight customers in a rising competitive sector and the management of personal and online reviews as a constructive issue may facilitate the open innovation attitude by managers, as a process to better provide better solutions for customers (Souto, 2015).

Cultivating high quality relationships with customers is of paramount importance in the banking sector. However, there has been little effort to examine relationship quality (RQ) in financial services, and though the evaluation of RQ should depend on the experience provided, empirical evidence on how customer experience may contribute to RQ is scant. Therefore, based on data collected from 227 retail banking clients, analysed using PLS-SEM, the purpose of this study is to understand the role played by customer experience on RQ in retail banking, and its impact on relational outcomes, comparing customers with and without a dedicated account manager.

Introduction

Owing to the intangibility, long-term delivery and complexity of financial services (FS), also characterized by considerable uncertainty (Ponsignon et al., 2015), cultivating high quality relationships with customers is of paramount importance (Ndubisi, 2007; O’Loughlin et al., 2004), particularly in an age of increased depersonalization, homogenization and automation in the industry (Barari and Furrer, 2018; Rajaobelina and Bergeron, 2009). A strong relationship is an intangible asset not easily duplicated by competitors (Wong et al., 2007) that reflects the psychological connection that customers have with a service provider (e.g. Crosby et al., 1990; DeWulf et al., 2001). Relationship Quality (RQ) has been defined as “the degree of appropriateness of a relationship to fulfil the needs of the customer” (HennigThurau and Klee, 1997, p.751), and it means that the customer is able to trust and rely on providers integrity because the level of past performance has consistently been satisfactory (So et al., 2016). Numerous authors (e.g. Roberts et al., 2003; Grégoire and Fisher, 2006; Wu and Li, 2011) have acknowledged that maintaining high quality relationships fosters loyalty-related outcomes, such as customers’ willingness to provide referrals and to pay a price premium. Therefore, according to Hennig-Thurau et al. (2002), the RQ approach is among the most expressive ones in modelling the determinants of relationship marketing outcomes. Because of the lack of concreteness of service outcomes high in credence qualities, functional attributes associated with customer experience (i.e. how the service is delivered), such as accessibility, professionalism, and empathy of FS providers, are likely to heavily contribute to consumer’s evaluation of their relationship with the bank (Eisingerich and Bell, 2007; Roy, 2018). In fact, although the banking industry is identified as “weak experiential” and goal oriented, “process” factors are pivotal to the service experience provided by a bank (O’Loughlin et al., 2004), and may play a more dominant role than technical, outcome-based factors, intrinsically difficult for customers to evaluate (Bell and Eisingerich, 2007).

Determining how notions of digital books influence digital divide and decision-making for organisations is problematic, not least because it is an evolving concept, rooted in consumer and organisational awareness in relation to levels of technological adoption. The concept represents a phenomenon that is elusive and prone to misconception. This paper examines how individual choices about IT products impact on social conceptualisations concerning rapid diffusion of information and utilisation of technological innovations. A two-stage research design solicited perspectives regarding online marketing challenges to marketing in the bookstore industry. Themes emerged that were developed into a conceptual model. It is suggested that firms must manage different customer segments through different value propositions, based on a multidimensional segmentation scheme that recognises the dynamic nature of value and value propositions to help managers classify customer portfolios and create effective value propositions.

Introduction

The digital and knowledge economy have brought about a world in which wealth and power increasingly depend on information technology, intellectual property and control over information flows (Simmons, 2008; Ozuem and Lancaster, 2014; Rose, 2018). In one sense, such an economy provides an extension of democratisation through the spread of ideas and resources; whilst in another context it contributes to a ‘digital divide’ (DD) between those with wide access to digital products and knowledge and individuals who do not (Wijetuga, 2014; Epstein et al., 2011; Li et al., 2013). Brake (2013) argued that differences in the amount and diversity of use and in the degree of creative use are bigger than differences in physical access and in skills. Determining how notions of digital books influence digital divide and decision-making for organisations is problematic, not least because it is an evolving amorphous concept, rooted in consumer and organisational awareness in relation to levels of technological adoption. The concept represents a complex phenomenon that is ubiquitously elusive and frustratingly prone to misconception. We use a phenomenological hermeneutical approach to comprehend freedom of choice and how individual decisions have ramifications for society in general. What is important is our presence within the world and environment. Phenomenological hermeneutics is not about abstract supra-individuals or transcendental egos; rather, it involves understanding people in actual situations. We examine how individual choices about IT products impact on social conceptualisations concerning the utilisation of technological innovations. Rapid diffusion of information and communication technologies in recent years has added an important element to the issue of a DD, particularly the adoption of digital reading devices. In this context, individuals have defined the DD in varied ways, but with no conceptual framework to link different types of computer-mediated environments, or to indicate their interaction in influencing effective online marketing strategy.

1- Introduction

2- Literature review and hypotheses

3- Method

4- Results

5- Discussion and conclusion

References

Abstract

Purpose – Online technologies have, in recent times, revolutionized the process of relationship building between firms and their customers. Nonetheless, there is a limited focus and theorization when it comes to explaining the link between online relationship marketing (ORM) activities and their impact on firm relationship marketing (RM) objectives. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the signaling role of ORM activities in generating online trust and customer loyalty, through the lens of the signaling theory.
Design/methodology/approach – Data for the study were gathered through a survey of 429 Ghanaian retail bank customers. Results were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques. Findings – The paper highlights the signaling role of engagement and interactivity online in influencing banks’ RM outcomes per the signaling theory. It concludes that bank’s online relationship activities, over and above the online tools utilized, need to communicate appropriate and useful signals in order to positively influence online trust and loyalty among customers.
Originality/value – The study, in its uniqueness, utilizes the signaling theory to explain the role and impact of online RM activities in the banking industry.

Introduction

It has become increasingly important for firms to build relationships with their customers and other key stakeholders in the industries within which they operate. This can be attributed, in part, to the advent of new forms of technology, and their ability to alter the nature of relationships and the way they are developed between firms and their stakeholders (Verma et al., 2016; Guo, 2014). Relationship marketing (RM) as a strategy contributes immensely to the firm’s value proposition within the marketplace. It fosters partnerships, which ultimately lead to profitable exchanges that help firms to acquire, retain and adequately satisfy their customers (Kanagal, 2009). But, technological advances are affecting customer expectations (Armistead and Kiely, 2003). Their needs and wants are constantly evolving, and as a result, marketers must frequently evaluate their methods to keep up with emerging trends. Although, businesses all over the globe are leveraging new and emerging technologies like e-mails (Huang and Shyu, 2009), Web 2.0 tools (Mitic and Kapoulas, 2012) and mobiles in enhancing existing relationships, as well as creating new channels of interaction with their customers, there is the need for extensive research regarding this phenomenon. Researchers such as Ghazi et al. (2013) and Huang and Shyu (2009) opine that there is limited research on firms’ RM activities online and how it influences other RM outcomes. For instance, some scholars (Fam et al., 2004) have postulated the relevance of studying the incorporation of firms’ RM activities online with other organizational practices and outcomes, to the advancement of existing knowledge on the role and potential of internet technology in RM. Furthermore, there is also a need for more theorization in understanding the relationship between the online variables and the RM constructs. That conceptual link tends to be silent in extant online relationship marketing (ORM) research.

Introduction

The business-to-business marketing literature has long recognized that relationship investments enhance relationship performance (Palmatier, Dant, Grewal, & Evans, 2006, Palmatier, Gopalakrishna, & Houston, 2006, Palmatier, Scheer, Houston, Evans, & Gopalakrishna, 2007). Practitioners, however, are less certain about whether they gain much value from their investments in building close inter-organizational relationships with customers, as they increasingly realize that “close relationships are not always synonymous with good relationships” (Anderson & Jap, 2005, p.75). The high failure rate (30%–50%) of close relationships, such as joint ventures or alliances, between firms and either their suppliers or customers has led managers to reconsider the linear view of their relationship building efforts (Anderson & Jap, 2005). Moreover, the rising opportunistic behavior in today’s complex supply chains has created the risk that one party in a dyadic buyersupplier relationship can gain greater value at the expense of the other (Vandenbosch & Sapp, 2010). Such opportunism puts pressure on supplying firms to consider not only how much new value their investments can create for the relationships, but also how much value they can receive compared to their partners. Given the high costs of investing in business relationships, it is critical for managers to effectively tackle these two challenges; however, prior research reveals a gap to the extent that it has not completely explained this important phenomenon. A review of the extant literature on buyer-supplier relationships reveals three notable limitations. First, few empirical studies address the complexity of how relationship investments affect relationship performance. On one hand, building on the reciprocity norm of social exchange theory, previous research has focused on the positive linear effect of supplier’s relationship marketing programs (including financial, social and structural programs) on customer-specific return on investment (Palmatier, Dant, et al., 2006), and supplier-buyer relationship quality (Palmatier et al., 2007). On the other hand, transaction cost theory posits that relationship investments can create a fertile ground for harmful opportunistic behavior (Williamson, 1975), and “can make it difficult to walk away” (Anderson & Jap, 2005, p.76). The literature on relationship marketing is unclear about how these two contrasting theories together explain the effect of supplier’s relationship marketing programs on relationship performance. Second, although business relationship value involves two important facets, value creation and value distribution (Fang, Palmatier, & Evans, 2008), prior research has largely focused on value creation instead of value distribution. Relationship value is “the trade-off between the benefits and costs” each party perceives in a dyadic relationship, “taking into consideration the available alternative relationships” (Ulaga & Eggert, 2006b, p.128). Indeed, the focus has been on a single side of the relationship, either the buyer or the supplier, rather than the dyad (Fang et al., 2008; Wagner, Eggert, & Lindemann, 2010). Unfortunately, when the party making relationship investments receives less value than the invested-in party, this difference in the distribution of value between the two parties can be a sign that value is being created for one party at the expense of the other. Third, prior research has ignored the contingency effect of relationship age to which the nonlinear effect of relationship building efforts might be subject. Relationship age reflects the length of time two parties have interacted with each other (Palmatier, Dant, et al., 2006). Previous studies consider relationship age to be a solid proxy reflecting relationship closeness and stability (Kumar, Scheer, & Steenkamp, 1995a; Liu, Li, Tao, & Wang, 2008; Stanko, Bonner, & Calantone, 2007) and point out that as a relationship evolves, trust, commitment, control, and other relational factors will change (Anderson & Weitz, 1989; Jap & Ganesan, 2000; Liu, Su, Li, & Liu, 2010).

Abstract

Providing end consumers with the ability to return products is an important part of a retailer’s service offering. While research in reverse logistics has explored the movement of returned merchandise upstream, little research examines the relational implications of returned merchandise in the businessto-business (B2B) context. This research explores the relational implications, as well as the impact on the supplier salesperson’s behaviors, of retailer returns. Using a comprehensive dataset which includes longitudinal archival returns data, as well as two waves of retailer surveys reporting on salesperson behaviors, our research investigates how retail returns impact salesperson responses in the following time period, retailer perceptions of the relationship in the following time period, and returns in the following time period. Consistent with a reciprocal exchange perspective, results suggest that when salespeople respond to returns by engaging in relationship building behaviors, these behaviors are noted by the retailer, which in turn results in fewer returns in a future time period.

Retailer returns

Retailer returns are a common element of supplier–retailer relationships. Typically, at the end of a selling season, the supplier agrees to take back the retailer’s unsold merchandise for a refund or a credit toward future orders, something that is typically negotiated a priori. A returns policy shifts the burden of demand uncertainty from the retailer to the supplier and acts as an incentive for retailers to increase stock (Yue and Raghunathan 2007). However, this increases the risk for suppliers since, as noted above, suppliers will generally take back unsold merchandise at the end of the selling period. These retailer returns might occur for a variety of reasons. A dominant cause of retailer returns is due to overstocks, which largely occur due to their being a finite selling period or uncertain demand (Tsay 2001). Surpluses might also occur when a brand, or a competing brand, introduces a new version of a product thus rendering the initial product obsolete. Overstocks are damaging to the retailer as the only way to reduce them is through markdowns (or sales) to increase the sell thru or by returning the merchandise to the vendor. Retailer returns might also occur when a supplier salesperson encourages a retailer to purchase certain quantities, and the sales team at the retailer is not committed to helping sell that product. For example, a sales associate at Best Buy might have an affinity for Samsung products and therefore sells fewer LG products, thus creating a surplus.

Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), this research explores customer engagement (CE) as a firm-initiated resource. Based on interviews with 41 managers from 34 companies, a five-facet, strategic customer engagement marketing (CEM) decision making framework emerges. CE Conceptualization differentiates between behavioral and psychological engagement. CE Target refers to who is engaged with the firm through CE (end-users or intermediaries such as retailers or distributors). CE Domain distinguishes between online and offline contexts. CE Experiential Routes differentiates absorption (controlled by the firm) from appropriation (controlled or transformed by the customer). Finally, CE Value demarcates customer interactional value from customer multiplier value. The decision options identified for each facet are interrelated and firms are advised to follow an integrative approach to CEM. However, acknowledging SET’s emphasis on cost-benefit ratios and opportunity costs, suggestions for potential moderators to the CEM framework are provided.

Introduction

Engagement has been recognized as an important and meaningful concept in organizational behavior, marketing, social psychology, and education. For example, Kahn (1990) investigates the effects of engaged employees, and Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2004) describe how students engage with schools. Academic and managerial interest in customer engagement (CE) is considerable (Hollebeek, Srivastava, & Chen, 2017), increasing (Roy, Balaji, Soutar, Lassar, & Roy, 2018), and expected to persist (Beckers, van Doorn, & Verhoef, 2018). Marketing practitioners expect increased brand equity, sales, and profits from truly engaged customers. For example, a recent study from Rosetta Consulting (2014) shows that highly engaged consumers spend 60% more in each transaction, make 90% more frequent purchases, and are four times more likely to advocate for the brand. Marketing academics emphasize CE’s potential to develop relationships with customers beyond monetary transactions (Venkatesan, 2017) and achieve sustainable competitive advantage (Kumar & Pansari, 2016). Extant research has made important contributions through defining CE (e.g., Brodie, Hollebeek, Jurić, & Ilić, 2011; Hollebeek, 2011a; Mollen & Wilson, 2010; van Doorn et al., 2010; Vivek, Beatty, & Morgan, 2012) and investigating its valence and dimensions (e.g., Dessart, Veloutsou, & Morgan-Thomas, 2016; Hollebeek, Glynn, & Brodie, 2014; van Doorn et al., 2010; Vivek, Beatty, Dalela, & Morgan, 2014). However, two issues have not been addressed sufficiently by the extant literature. First, while prior research examines the psychological mechanisms that drive CE (compare, e.g., Harmeling, Moffett, Arnold, & Carlson, 2017; Pansari & Kumar, 2017), CE as a strategic company resource remains unexplored. Second, existing interpretative research investigating CE from a managerial perspective that incorporates the “voice of the firm” is rare (for exceptions, see Hollebeek, 2016; Hollebeek et al., 2017; Vivek et al., 2012), and managerial implications are predominantly deduced from consumer-based research. Viewing CE as a firm-initiated resource is important because organizations typically take the initiative to engage the customer (Vivek et al., 2012), and firms should proactively manage the CE experience (Calder, Hollebeek, & Malthouse, 2018; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; van Doorn et al., 2010).

The emergence of online and mobile technologies has necessitated the need to re-examine the viability of relationship marketing in nurturing business-to-business service relationships. By drawing upon the resourcebased view (RBV), social exchange (SE) theory and socio-technical systems (STS) theory, this research explores the differences in the process by which local, national and foreign branded banks are able to integrate their online platforms into their relational efforts. Data from a sample of 336 small and medium-sized business customers in the New Zealand banking industry shows that both offline and online service quality affect satisfaction with their e-banking services, which in turn affect the trust and commitment towards the bank and loyalty towards e-banking. In addition, the effect of trust and commitment on loyalty towards e-banking is significantly stronger for the local and national branded banks compared to foreign branded banks. Our findings extend current research on B2B relationship marketing and offer useful managerial insights for professional B2B services providers.

Introduction

Relationship marketing (RM) literature highlights the importance of building and maintaining long-term relationships with customers, in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumers (B2C) markets. Within the B2B domain, researchers use the social exchange (SE) perspective (e.g. Kingshott, 2006; Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Tsarenko & Simpson, 2017) to study firm-customer relationships based on the “trust-based commitment” paradigm, a dominant approach in modelling the firm-customer relationships due to its intuitive appeal and empirical support over the years, especially in the banking context (e.g. Milne & Boza, 1999; van Esterik-Plasmeijer & van Raaij, 2017; Yousafzai, Pallister, & Foxall, 2005). However, it is not clear if this perspective would still hold in today’s highly competitive global marketplace that has embraced new technologies as a crucial mechanism of interacting with the customer. The question then needs to be asked is whether the growth of online and mobile banking technologies is conducive to service firms being able to continue to leverage existing customer trust and commitment towards the service brand to influence these customers to use such technologies, and through that yield e-loyalty. E-loyalty is a desired outcome in the introduction of such technologies because it signifies customers are committed to using this mode of interaction which is critical for those service firms that have invested in technology to configure and design their operations and processes. This issue is particularly important in those B2B service contexts, where face-to-face and social interactions are still regarded a critical aspect of the relationship, because changing marketplace dynamics that involve technology and service separation (e.g., Keh & Pang, 2010) may ironically impede the capacity of firms to leverage trust and commitment. For example, ASB bank in New Zealand recognises the importance of new technologies but also the need to maintain face-to-face interactions with their banking customers. By developing a new video service, those customers that want face-to-face interactions can do so but now with the aid of technology at a time and place convenient to them (ASB, 2018). As a result, we need to re-examine the sustainability of “trust-based commitment” paradigm in light of the emergence of online and mobile technologies because (1) these have changed the way most service businesses interact with their customers (Laukkanen, 2016), and, (2) global deregulation across businesses (e.g. Kandilov, Leblebicioğlu, & Petkova, 2016) has made marketplaces more competitive and accessible – thus increasing vulnerability to foreign firms.

Introduction

The emergence of social media has significantly influenced the development of marketing strategies in the hotel industry. Social media has changed how customers communicate, collaborate, and connect with others. Service organizations, such as hotels, need to constantly update their activities on social media because Web 2.0 transformed how customers developed relationships with brands (Gensler et al., 2013). One of the key challenges in social media marketing is customers can develop a relationship with different parties; thus, hotels need to pay attention to different types of relationships to promote customers’ interactions with the hotel brand and to enhance their responses toward the hotel brand. The popularity and growth of social media alert hotels to develop relationships with their customers, providing a place where customers can build relationships with the service, the hotel brand, and other customers.

Understanding different types of customers’ relationships could benefit hotels because each relationship attributes customers’ interactions with the hotel. Relationship marketing, which focuses on creating and maintaining long-term customer relationships, serves as a competitive advantage and strategic resource for the firm (Webster, 1992). Relationship marketing is related to services marketing because its emphasis is on the interactions between the customer and the service provider (Kinard and Capella, 2006). This relationship marketing aims to develop long-term, mutually satisfying relationships with customers, suppliers, and distributors by transforming an organization’s focus from fixed transactions to a long-term, ongoing, profitable relationship (Kotler, 2000).

Literature Review

RM as a Managerial Approach

RM is the management of a collaborative relationship between a company and its stakeholders (Gro¨nroos, 2000; Gummesson, 1998). The collaborative relationship is carried, maintained, and enhanced through communication and interaction, with the intent of producing added or superior value to the core product (Gro¨nroos, 2000; Ravald & Gronroos, 1996). In maintaining and enhancing the communication and interaction process on a continuous basis and by fulfilling the promises that businesses make in their communications and interactions, companies be able to deliver a cocreated and customer valued product (Gro¨nroos, 2000; Gummesson, 1997). Tactically, the RM approach is designed to allow the company to be in close touch with its customers and to obtain more information about them, leading to a mutual understanding where companies become valuable to customers (Peppers & Rogers, 2011). The approach facilitates business efforts to enhance intimacy, provide greater customer satisfaction, achieve improved customer retention, increase consumer loyalty, build long-term relationships, reduce marketing costs, and secure a long-term profit (Christopher et al., 2002; Peppers & Rogers, 2011). As Kim and Trail (2011) report, attracting new customers can be up to 5 times more expensive than maintaining existing customer relations (loyalty). Similarly, Feinberg and Kadam (2002) state that increasing customer retention rates by 5% leads to profit enhancement of anywhere from 25% to 80%. Customers can achieve a number of benefits from an RM approach (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 1995; Stavros & Westberg, 2009), including choice reduction, which provides efficiency in their purchase decision, reduced search costs, and increased cognitive consistency in decisions (Bee & Kahle, 2006). Notably, Bee and Kahle (2006) note that RM reduces (i) the complexity of the buying situation, (ii) the amount of resources required for information processing, and (iii) the need to be familiar with the offering. Gro¨nroos (2004) added that RM provides enhanced security to customers, a sense of trust and a feeling of control, minimises purchasing risks, and reduced their costs. Notably, an RM approach varies across different industries (e.g., sport, tourism, and goods manufacturing companies) and consumer segments (e.g., sport consumers/fans, tourists, and manufacturing goods consumers; Stavros & Westberg, 2009). The sport industry is known to be fertile ground for an RM approach (Kim & Trail, 2011). A number of sport consumption and fan behavior studies have reported that both the attitudes and behavior of sport consumers towards their clubs exhibit relational characteristics (Farrelly & Quester, 2003; Harris & Ogbonna, 2008). A sport fan is an enthusiastic consumer who is motivated to engage in behavior related to sport (Hunt, Bristol, & Bashaw, 1999). Fans are often highly connected and involved personally with their favorite team (Harris & Ogbonna, 2008).

Despite consolidating efforts reflected in a number of recent literature reviews and meta-analyses, the field of relationship marketing remains in need of more elaborate theoretical foundations (Agariya and Singh 2011; Verma et al. 2015). Indeed, there is still considerable variety in conceptualizations of relationship marketing, with each accentuating different aspects. One feature shared by most definitions of relationship marketing is its conceptualization as a process. Somewhat counterintuitively, the process dimension is so prevalent in current relationship marketing discourse that it appears to be taken for granted and largely immune to explicit theorization. It is against this backdrop that we argue that the process of relationship marketing has emerged as an important conceptual blind spot that impedes further progress in the field. In particular, the lack of theorization of the relationship marketing process is likely to obstruct the much-needed scholarly effort to explicate the dynamics of relationship initiation and development over time (Palmatier et al. 2013). This conceptual paper seeks to address this theoretical void and draws on the process theory archetypes identified by Van de Ven and Poole (1995) to distinguish four perspectives on relationship marketing as a (1) life-cycle, (2) teleological, (3) evolutionary, or (4) dialectical process. This paper reveals that three of these process theories are strongly represented in relationship marketing literature, while one particularly promising perspective, the dialectical view, remains largely underexplored. Based on this classification, we illustrate two particularly promising opportunities for advancing relationship marketing theory, exploring a dialectical process model and building so-called dual-(or-more-) motor theories that combine two (or more) process theory archetypes. In our opinion, this process-centric framework constitutes a meaningful conceptual contribution in that it helps to systematize the relationship marketing literature and, even more importantly, identifies a rich and comprehensive set of opportunities for Brecombinatory^ theory building in relationship marketing. As such, it can serve as a meaningful conceptual toolbox for those interested in advancing theory in relationship marketing. Our paper answers the recurring calls for developing more elaborate and realistic frameworks for relationship marketing (Möller and Halinen 2000). Specifically, our focus on relationship marketing processes answers the call of Eiriz and Wilson (2006), who state that moving toward a better understanding of relationship processes is one of three priorities for future research in the field – along with uncovering the rationale for relationships and the structures for the management of these relationships. Not unlike the field of marketing as a whole (Yadav 2010), relationship marketing has much to benefit from a renewed focus on its intellectual and theoretical foundations. This paper is meant to contribute toward this broader agenda by advancing relationship marketing theory and enriching the conceptual landscape that informs the research of relationship marketing processes.