This study explores what kinds of relationship marketing activities affect relationship quality between customer-contact employees and hotel guests. In addition, this study investigates whether relationship quality influences relationship consequences such as commitment, repeat purchase, and word of mouth. This study will help hotel managers design guidelines for efficient relationship marketing activities. The effective use of relationship marketing strategies can increase repeat guests and positive word of mouth. To analyze data collected from 27 luxury hotels in Seoul, South Korea, structural equation modeling was used to discover a causal relationship. The empirical results of this study are twofold: Greater guest confidence and communication result in higher relationship quality, and higher relationship quality results in greater guest commitment and more repeat purchase and positive word of mouth.
Adler, L. (1966). Symbiotic marketing. Harvard Business Review, 44(6), 59-71.
2.
Anderson, E., & Weitz, B. (1989). Determinants of continuity in conventional industrial channel dyads. Marketing Science, 8, 310-323.
3.
Anderson, E. W. (1994). Cross-category variation in customer satisfaction and retention. Marketing Letters, 8(1), 19-30.
4.
Anderson, J. C., & Narus, J. A. (1990). A model of distributor firm and manufacturer firm working partnerships. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 42-58.
5.
Berry, L. L. (1983). Relationship marketing. In L. L. Berry, G. L. Shostack, & G. D. Upah (Eds.), Emerging perspectives of services marketing (pp. 25-28). Chicago: American Marketing Association.
6.
Bettencourt, L. A. (1997). Customer voluntary performance: Customers as partners in service delivery. Journal of Retailing, 73(3), 383-406.
7.
Bitner, M. J. (1995). Building service relationships: It’s all about promises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(4), 246-251.
8.
Bowen, J. T., & Shoemaker, S. (1998). Loyalty: A strategic commitment. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 39(1), 12-25.
9.
Churchill, G. A. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64-73.
10.
Crosby, L. A., Evans, K. R., & Cowles, D. (1990). Relationship quality in services selling: An interpersonal influence perspective. Journal of Marketing, 54(3), 68-81.
11.
Crosby, L. A., & Stephens, N. (1987). Effects of relationship marketing on satisfaction, retention, and prices in the life insurance industry. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(4), 404-411.
12.
Dichter, E. (1989). How word of mouth advertising works. Harvard Business Review, 67(6), 147-157.
13.
Evans, J. R., & Laskin, R. L. (1994). The relationship marketing process: A conceptualization and application. Industrial Marketing Management, 23, 439-452.
14.
Garbarino, E., & Johnson, M. S. (1999). The different role of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer relationships. Journal of Marketing, 63(2), 70-85.
15.
Gerbing, D. W., & Anderson, J. C. (1988). An updated paradigm for scale development incorporating unidimensionality and its assessment. Journal of Marketing Research, 25(2), 186-192.
16.
Gilbert, D. C. (1996). Relationship marketing and airline loyalty schemes. Tourism Management, 17(8), 575-582.
17.
Gronroos, C. (1990). Relationship approach to marketing in service contexts: The marketing and organizational behavior interface. Journal of Business Research, 20, 3-11.
18.
Gruen, T. W., Summers, J. O., & Acito, F. (2000). Relationship marketing activities, commitment, and membership behaviors in professional associations. Journal of Marketing, 64(3), 34-49.
19.
Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., & Black, W. (1992). Multivariate data analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
20.
Heide, J. B., & George, J. (1990). Alliances in industrial purchasing: The determinants of joint action in buyer-seller relationship. Journal of Marketing Research, 27(1), 24-36.
21.
Kelley, S. W., & Davis, M. A. (1994). Antecedents to customer expectations for service recovery. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22, 52-61.
22.
Kotler, P., Bowen, J., & Makens, J. (1996). Marketing for hospitality and tourism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
23.
Levitt, T. (1983). After the sale is over. Harvard Business Review, 61(5), 87-93.
24.
Lewis, R. C., Chambers, R. E., & Chacko, H. E. (1995). Marketing leadership in hospitality (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Rienhold.
25.
Moorman, C., Deshpande, R., & Zaltman, G. (1993). Factors affecting trust in market research relationships. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 81-101.
26.
Moorman, C., Zaltman, G., & Deshpande, R. (1992). Relationship between provider and users of marketing research: The dynamics of trust within and between organizations. Journal of Marketing Research, 29(3), 314-328.
27.
Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20-38.
28.
Oliver, R. L., & Swan, J. E. (1989). Consumer perceptions of interpersonal equity and satisfaction in transaction: A field survey approach. Journal of Marketing, 53(2), 21-35.
29.
Reichheld, F., & Sasser, W. E. (1990). Zero defections: Quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, 68(5), 105-111.
30.
Schurr, P. H., & Ozanne, J. L. (1985). Influences on exchange processes: Buyers’ preconception of a seller’s trustworthiness and bargaining toughness. Journal of Consumer Research, 11, 939-953.
31.
Singh, J. (1988). Consumer complaint intentions and behavior: Definitional and taxonomical issues. Journal of Marketing, 52(1), 93-107.
32.
Swan, J. E., Trawick, I. F., & Silva, D. W. (1985). How industrial salespeople gain customer trust. Industrial Marketing Management, 14(3), 203-211.
33.
Wagner, H. C., Fleming, D., Mangold, W. G., & LaForge, R. W. (1994). Relationship marketing in health care. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 14(4), 42-47.
34.
Westbrook, R. A. (1981). Sources of consumer satisfaction with retail outlets. Journal of Retailing, 57(3), 68-85.
