The Marketing Book 5th Edition

Relationship marketing 43

... the sale merely consummates the courtship.
Then the marriage begins. How good the
marriage is depends on how well the relation-
ship is managed by the seller.

As a result of the marriage metaphor, Dwyer et
al. (1987) employ the extant marriage literature
in making sense of buyer–seller relationships
(Tynan, 1999). Although Levitt is credited as
being the first to make this comparison, it is
interesting to note that Guillet de Monthaux
(1975) offered an earlier review of relationship
development in terms of courtship, marriage
and divorce.
The influence of social exchange theory is
particularly obvious when we consider the
concepts that we use to describe and explain
relationship development and, indeed, the rela-
tionship success variables. In a useful and very
thorough literature review, Wilson (1995)
attempts to identify those concepts that are most
widely used. These are identified in Table 3.2.
Depending on the specific context, these
variables are likely to be more or less impor-
tant. However, it is worth noting that, of these,
trust, commitment, co-operation and mutual
benefit have attracted the most empirical atten-
tion, and are considered fundamental to under-
standing and creating commercial relationships

(Dwyeret al., 1987; Anderson and Narus, 1990;

Crosby et al., 1990; Czepiel, 1990; Gr ̈onroos,

1990; Heide and John, 1990; Moorman et al.,

1992; Rusbult and Buunk, 1993; Barnes, 1994;

Morgan and Hunt, 1994).

Håkansson (1982) suggests that relation-

ships are developed to reduce uncertainty and/

or add value. In terms of reducing uncertainty,

Håkansson (1982) highlights improvements in

the firm’s forecasting abilities. In contrast,

M ̈oller and Wilson (1995, p. 40) take a broader

perspective, and argue that ‘firms generally

develop business relationships for multiple

reasons that are not based on any singular

dimension’. They suggest that relationship

development can be motivated by the need for

economic gains, the quest for stability or

predictability; the search for reciprocity; the

quest for efficient and effective operations, to

establish legitimacy; or because the firm lacks

resources, or wishes to utilize an asymmetrical

power base (M ̈oller and Wilson, 1995). In

services marketing, the organization seeks rela-

tionships with customers in order to enhance

loyalty. Within this context, consumers are

believed to seek relationships in order to

minimize risk (Berry, 1995).

It is acknowledged that not all customers

are profitable as relationship customers (Ford,

1980; Håkansson, 1982; Reichheld and Sasser,

1990; Berry, 1995). Thus, a first stage of relation-

ship management must clearly be the identi-

fication of relationship potential. Even then, not

all customers will necessarily be interested in,

or merit, the same level of investment, and thus

a relationship specification phase must be

included. This specification phase may occur

before, after or simultaneous to the relationship

initiation phase. Furthermore, while some defi-

nitions incorporate enhancing and maintaining

relationships as distinct stages, this is an unnec-

essary distinction. Some relationships will

require continual enhancement in order to be

maintained, whereas others will not. Thus, it is

argued that it is implicit in the relationship

maintenance concept that relationship invest-

ments, enhancements and communication are

Table 3.2 Summary of variables

of relationship success models

Commitment Social bonds

Trust Structural bonds

Co-operation Summative constructs

Mutual goals Shared technology

Interdependence/

power imbalance

Non-retrievable

investments

Performance

satisfaction

Comparison level of

alternatives

Adaptation

Source: Wilson (1995).