01-03-2013, 12:36 PM
THE DOMAIN AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
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ABSTRACT
In the current era of intense competition and demanding customers, relationship
marketing has attracted the expanded attention of scholars and practitioners. Marketing
scholars are studying the nature and scope of relationship marketing and developing
conceptualizations regarding the value of cooperative and collaborative relationship between
buyers and sellers as well as the relationship between different marketing actors, including
suppliers, competitors, distributors and internal functions in creating and delivering customer
value. Many scholars with interests in various sub-disciplines of marketing, such as
channels, services marketing, business-to-business marketing, advertising, and so forth, are
actively engaged in studying and exploring the conceptual foundations of relationship
marketing.
However, the conceptual foundations of relationship marketing are not fully
developed as yet. The current growth in the field of relationship marketing is somewhat
similar to what we experienced in the early stages of the development of the discipline of
consumer behavior. There is a growing interest in the subject matter and many explorations
are underway to finding its conceptual foundations. In the floodgate of knowledge, such
diverse perspectives are required for understanding this growing phenomenon. Each
exploration offers a perspective that should help in further conceptualization of the discipline
of relationship marketing. As Sheth (1996) observed that for a discipline to emerge, it is
necessary to build conceptual foundations and develop theory that will provide purpose and
explanation for the phenomenon. This is how consumer behavior grew to become a
discipline and now enjoys central position in marketing knowledge. We expect relationship
marketing to undergo a similar growth pattern and soon become a discipline into itself.
What is Relationship Marketing?
Before we begin to examine the theoretical foundations of relationship marketing, it
will be useful to define what the term relationship marketing means. As Nevin (1995) points
out, the term relationship marketing has been used to reflect a variety of themes and
perspectives. Some of these themes offer a narrow functional marketing perspective while
others offer a perspective that is broad and somewhat paradigmatic in approach and
orientation.
Narrow versus Broad Views of Relationship Marketing
One narrow perspective of relationship marketing is database marketing emphasizing
the promotional aspects of marketing linked to database efforts (Bickert 1992). Another
narrow, yet relevant, viewpoint is to consider relationship marketing only as customer
retention in which a variety of aftermarketing tactics is used for customer bonding or staying
in touch after the sale is made (Vavra 1991). A more popular approach with recent
application of information technology is to focus on individual or one-to-one relationship
with customers that integrates database knowledge with a long-term customer retention and
growth strategy (Peppers and Rogers 1993). Thus, Shani and Chalasani (1992) define
relationship marketing as “an integrated effort to identify, maintain, and build up a network
with individual consumers and to continuously strengthen the network for the mutual benefit
of both sides, through interactive, individualized and value-added contacts over a long period
of time” (p. 44). Jackson (1985) applies the individual account concept in industrial markets
to define relationship marketing as “marketing oriented toward strong, lasting relationships
with individual accounts” (p. 2). In other business contexts, Doyle and Roth (1992), O’Neal
(1989), Paul (1988), and have proposed similar definitions of relationship marketing.
Relationship Marketing versus Marketing Relationships
An interesting question is raised by El-Ansary (1997) as to what is the difference
between “marketing relationships” and “relationship marketing”? Certainly marketing
relationships have existed and have been the topic of discussion for a long time. But what
distinguishes it from relationship marketing is its nature and specificity. Marketing
relationships could take any form, including adversarial relationships, rivalry relationships,
affiliation relationships, independent or dependent relationships, etc. However, relationship
marketing is not concerned with all aspects of marketing relationships. The core theme of all
relationship marketing perspectives and definitions is its focus on cooperative and
collaborative relationship between the firm and its customers, and/or other marketing actors.
Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh (1987) have characterized such cooperative relationships as being
interdependent and long-term orientated rather than being concerned with short-term discrete
transactions.
De-limiting the Domain of Relationship Marketing
For an emerging discipline, it is important to develop an acceptable definition that
encompasses all facets of the phenomenon and also effectively de-limits the domain so as to
allow focused understanding and growth of knowledge in the discipline. Although Morgan
and Hunt’s definition focuses on the relational aspects of marketing, it is criticized for being
too broad and inclusive. They include buyer partnerships, supplier partnerships, internal
partnerships, and lateral partnerships within the purview of relationship marketing.
The Emergence of Relationship Marketing School of Thought
As is widely known, the discipline of marketing grew out of economics, and the
growth was motivated by a lack of interest among economists in the details of market
behavior and functions of middlemen (Bartels 1976; Sheth, Gardener, and Garrett 1988).
Marketing’s early bias for distribution activities is evident as the first marketing courses (at
Michigan and Ohio) were focused on effectively performing the distributive task (Bartels
1976). Early marketing thinking centered on efficiency of marketing channels (Cherrington
1920; Shaw 1912; Weld 1916, 1917). Later the institutional marketing thinkers, because of
their grounding in institutional economic theory, viewed the phenomena of value
determination as fundamentally linked to exchange (Alderson 1954; Duddy and Revzan
1947). Although institutional thought of marketing was later modified by the organizational
dynamics viewpoint and marketing thinking was influenced by other social sciences,
exchange remained the central tenet of marketing (Alderson 1965; Bagozzi 1974, 1978,
1979; Kotler 1972).