The impact of communication effectiveness and service quality on relationship commitment in consumer, professional services
Abstract
Most previous research in the domain of relationship marketing has focused on the antecedents of loyalty and commitment in industrial markets, distribution channels or consumer goods. This study, however, models the antecedents of clients’ relationship commitment in the context of a professional service, high in credence qualities (where customers have difficulty in confidently evaluating service quality, even purchase and consumption) ‐ i.e. personal financial planning services. The impact of four key explanatory variables (communication effectiveness, technical quality, functional quality and trust) are examined. The results support the hypothesized model and show communication effectiveness to be a key driver of all antecedent variables, and the single most powerful determinant of relationship commitment.
Keywords
Citation
Sharma, N. and Patterson, P.G. (1999), "The impact of communication effectiveness and service quality on relationship commitment in consumer, professional services", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 151-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876049910266059
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited