A typology of customer‐service provider relationships: the role of relational factors in classifying customers

Abstract

Research on customer relationships has documented that customers focus not only on the functional benefits they receive, but also the relational benefits. This study examines the underpinnings of customer relationships designated as professional relationships, casual acquaintances, personal acquaintances, and friendships, with regard to the relational factors: emotional attachment to a particular provider; personal advice seeking, and socializing outside of the service encounter. A survey is used to examine relationship types across four service industries (healthcare, financial services, hair care, and automotive repair). It is found that relationship types can be distinguished based on the relational factors, and that relationship types vary by service.

The Impact of Relational Marketing Bonds on Retailers' Economic and Social Satisfaction

“…With regard to interorganizational bonds, the current study considered organizational bonds such as structural and financial bonds to occur at the interorganizational level between the retail and manufacturing organizations, consistent with previous studies (e.g., Bolton et al, 2003;Coulter & Jonsson & Zineldin, 2003;Lin & Ding, 2005;Peltier & Westfall, 2000;Schakett et al, 2011). Most of these researchers demonstrated the importance of financial and structural bonds in improving relationship satisfaction.…”

“…Social bonds are described as "the level of mutual personal friendship and liking that [is] shared by the buyer and seller" (Wilson, 1995, p. 339). Social bonds are evident in personal attachment, inclination for personal information sharing, and external business socialization between the buyer's and the seller's key contract employees (Coulter & Ligas, 2004). Chiu, Hsieh, Li, and Lee (2005) described social bonds as the personal ties that concentrate on the service dimensions to create the relationship between buyers and sellers with the help of friendships, identifications, and interpersonal interactions.…”

Are Home-Based Sales Representatives Aware and Proactive Regarding Security Risks in the Internet Era?

“…The data in this study suggest that traditional marketing research and segmentation techniques (Goulter & Ligas, 2004;Hair, Bush, & Ortinau, 2006) can be employed to develop a profile of the HBE representative engaged in MLM who would be most receptive to influence (education, advice) from a sponsor (franchiser or MLM parent). The goal would be to encourage adoption of a comprehensive protection service highly tailored with features specific to their business area:…”

The Influence of the Type of Relationship on the Generation of Innovations in Buyer–Supplier Collaborations

“…It is widely acknowledged that the success of joint activities between firms to a high degree relies on inter-firm relationships (e.g., Ford, 1997;Cannon & Perreault Jr., 1999;Coulter & Ligas, 2004;Tangpong, Michalisin & Melcher, 2008). Based on the ideas of the relational view (Dyer & Singh, 1998), relationships between buyers and suppliers are considered a major source of competitive advantage.…”