Do Loyal and More Involved Customers Reciprocate Retailer's Relationship Efforts?

This study develops and empirically tests a model for examination of the impact of different relationship efforts made by a retailer (financial bonding, social bonding, and structural bonding) on key relationship marketing outcomes (trust, relationship commitment, and behavioral loyalty) as relationship duration and product involvement are used as controllable variables in a relationship marketing system. A study in information education services industry was conducted based on samples drawn from XYZ Company, the largest information education services institute in Taiwan. SEM results indicate that retailers undertaking relationship efforts to loyal consumers can positively affect these consumers' attitudes and behavior. Besides, the findings suggest that information education services with different attributes need different kinds and levels of relationship efforts. Specifically, the results show that relationship duration does have positive influence on consumer behavioral loyalty, and so does product involvement on relationship outcomes. Consequently, managers and employees of retail companies need to be trained, motivated, and rewarded for making relationship efforts to regular consumers.