European Journal of Marketing: Article Information

European Journal of Marketing
Service quality, relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment and business-to-business

loyalty
Ruben Chumpitaz Caceres, Nicholas G. Paparoidamis,
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Ruben Chumpitaz Caceres, Nicholas G. Paparoidamis, (2007) "Service quality, relationship satisfaction,
trust, commitment and business‐to‐business loyalty", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 41 Issue: 7/8,
pp.836-867, https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560710752429
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EJM
41,7/8 Service quality, relationship
satisfaction, trust, commitment
and business-to-business loyalty
836
Ruben Chumpitaz Caceres and Nicholas G. Paparoidamis
IESEG School of Management, Université Catholique de Lille, Lille, France
Received February 2005
Accepted October 2005
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to establish a theoretical basis for evaluating a strategic
increase in customers’ perceptions of service/product quality – specifically in terms of an increase in

relationship quality and customer loyalty in a B2B environment – and to test this theoretical basis
empirically.
Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on the relationship-marketing literature, the authors
empirically test a model of business loyalty in a sample of 234 advertising agencies’ clients.
Findings – Using the Grönroos conceptualisation, a clear pattern of service-quality dimensions is
established and several important findings are reported – including empirical verification of the
mediating role of overall relationship satisfaction in the formation of loyalty attributes. The effects of
trust and commitment are also verified.
Research limitations/implications – Studies that model attitudinal as well as behavioural
relationship outcomes have strong precedence in the relationship marketing area. Although in this
study the “intentions” approach is followed rather than a behavioural one, the measurement of the real
behaviour of industrial clients proves to be very difficult from a practical point-of-view.
Practical implications – In this service continuum, managers need to clearly define relationship
development strategies, service provision policies and develop homogeneous service provision.
Towards this direction, it is essential that firms communicate the service and product quality
standards to partners so that differences in service provision can be avoided.
Originality/value – The study integrates the concepts of service/product quality, relationship
satisfaction, trust, and commitment in a business-loyalty model, demonstrating the benefits of
investing in relationships based on trust and commitment.
Keywords Relationship marketing, Trust, Relationship marketing, Customer loyalty
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Over the past 15 years, a major shift has occurred in the ways that industrial companies
deal with their customers and suppliers (Christopher et al., 1991; Ellram, 1995; Han et al.,
1993; O’Neal, 1989). This change has come about as companies have recognised that
sustainable competitive advantage in the global economy increasingly requires
companies to become trusted participants in various networks or sets of strategic
alliances (Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Ganesan, 1994). Relationship marketing has emerged
over the years as an exciting area of marketing that focuses on building long-term
European Journal of Marketing relationships with customers and other parties. As Grönroos (1993) observed:
Vol. 41 No. 7/8, 2007
pp. 836-867 . . . establishing a relationship, for example with a customer, can be divided into two parts: to
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0309-0566
attract the customer and to build the relationship with that customer so that the economic
DOI 10.1108/03090560710752429 goals of that relationship are achieved.
The fundamental principles upon which relationship marketing is based are mutual Service quality
value creation, trust, and commitment; the greater the level of customer satisfaction
with the relationship – not just the product or service – the greater the likelihood that
the customer will be loyal to the company providing that service or the product. The
objective of relationship marketing is to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction
through collaboration of the parties involved (Payne et al., 1995).
There is general agreement in the relationship-marketing literature that the quality 837
of the relationship between the parties involved is an important determinant of the
permanence and intensity of the relationship and the consequent success of
relationship-marketing practices. Although academics recognise the importance of
relationship marketing (Berry, 1995; Goff et al., 1997), there is little empirical evidence
regarding the nature and extent of the overall impact of relationship-marketing
practices on relationship-quality outcomes (Gwinner et al., 1998).
Much of the extant literature on assessment of service quality has focused on

end-consumers, rather than on business customers. Moreover, there has been a lack of
research into the evaluative criteria and processes used by firms in forming
service-quality perceptions (Parasuraman, 1998). Although recent research efforts
(Woo and Ennew, 2004, 2005; Caceres and Paparoidamis, 2004) shed light in the
business-to-business area, in fact, the issues of “customer service” and “relationship
quality” in B2B contexts, remain undefined and relatively unexplored (Woo and
Ennew, 2004). This lack of definition has produced unresolved issues with respect to
conceptualisation and measurement of service-quality perceptions and their impact on
business satisfaction and loyalty formation (Parasuraman, 1998; Shellhase et al., 1999).
The purposes of this study are therefore:
.
to establish a theoretical basis for evaluating a strategic increase in customers’
perceptions of service/product quality – specifically in terms of an increase in
relationship quality and customer loyalty in a B2B environment; and
.
to test this theoretical basis empirically.
The study first conceptualises perceptions of service quality by identifying the

dimensions that pertain to a specific industry.
Secondly, the study conceptualises the construct of relationship quality by providing
a theoretical framework that constitutes the heart of the present research model
(Figure 1). The aim is to bring together various relational variables that have been widely
used in the relationship-marketing literature under the one umbrella of relationship
quality. Although these various elements can be conceptualised individually, and
although they represent wide-ranging tools of relationship measurement, the present
study is an attempt to demonstrate the interdependence of these variables and, at a
higher level, their importance in the formation of business loyalty. According to
relationship-marketing theory, relationships are not just about the goods and services
that customers buy from a supplier. It follows that the various aspects of service quality
are not the only elements that influence business loyalty. Nonetheless, service quality is
often posited in the literature as an antecedent of customer/service satisfaction (Gotlieb
et al., 1994; Parasuraman, 1998; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Brady and Cronin, 2001; Dick
and Basu, 1994; Anderson et al., 1994; Iacobucci et al., 1995):
. . . quality is one dimension on which satisfaction is based (Rust and Oliver, 2000, p. 6).
EJM
41,7/8
838
Figure 1.
The research framework
The present study focuses on relationship satisfaction and relationship-satisfaction

outcomes. In so doing, the aim is to underline the effect that service-quality dimensions
have on relationship-quality components.
Thirdly, the present study empirically tests the formulated model – to establish the
effects of service-quality variables and relationship-quality variables on customer
loyalty in a B2B setting. The empirical results, together with conclusions and
managerial implications, are then presented.
Loyalty
In the marketing literature, loyalty has been widely recognised as being of the utmost
importance (Oliver, 1999; Samuelsen and Sandvik, 1997; Howard and Sheth, 1969).
Reichheld (1996) studied the positive effect on profits of having a loyal customer base.
Aaker (1991) discussed the role of loyalty in the brand equity process – specifically
noting that brand loyalty reduced marketing costs. Fornell and Wernerfelt (1987) noted
that the costs of customer retention are substantially less than those of customer
acquisition. In addition, brand loyalty produces positive word-of-mouth
recommendation, and greater resistance among loyal consumers to competitive
strategies from rival suppliers (Arndt, 1967; Oliver, 1999; Dick and Basu, 1994).
However, despite the fact that brand loyalty clearly has important managerial
implications, significant conceptual and empirical gaps remain in this area (Chaudhuri
and Holbrook, 2001; Lau and Lee, 1999; Oliver, 1999; Fournier and Yao, 1997). In
particular, the concept of loyalty in a B2B context has not been clearly defined –
despite there being numerous ways of defining and measuring loyalty in a consumer
market context. Oliver (1999, p. 34) defined loyalty as:
. . . a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronise a preferred product/service consistently
in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite
situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching
behaviour.
This definition emphasises two principal aspects of brand loyalty that have received Service quality
attention in previous studies of the concept: behavioural aspects; and attitudinal
aspects (Aaker, 1991; Assael, 1998; Day, 1969; Jacoby and Chestnut, 1978; Jacoby and
Kyner, 1973; Oliver, 1999; Tucker, 1964). Behavioural loyalty refers to repeated
purchases of a brand, whereas attitudinal loyalty refers to a degree of dispositional
commitment (in terms of some distinctive value associated with the brand). The
attitude behind the purchase is important because it drives behaviour. Whereas 839
behavioural loyalty is partly determined by situational factors (such as availability of a
brand), attitudinal loyalty is more enduring.
It is thus widely acknowledged that loyalty has both attitudinal and behavioural
components. Jacoby and Kyner (1973) proposed a definition of loyalty that includes six
necessary conditions. According to this definition, brand loyalty is a biased (that is,
non-random) behavioural response (that is, a purchase) expressed over time by some
decision-making unit (a person or group of persons) with respect to one or more

alternative brands (out of a set of such brands), and is a function of psychological
processes (decision making, evaluative). Bloemer and Kasper (1995) have studied the
differences between “true” and “spurious” loyalty in terms of an “inertia effect”). These
authors have found that “true loyalty” implies, in addition to repetitive purchasing, a
true commitment to the brand. Oliver (1997, 1999) also invoked this notion of
“commitment” in his research on satisfaction and brand loyalty relationship.
Dick and Basu (1994), in their conceptual paper, point out that while the loyalty
concept applies to a variety of contexts, most researchers have focused on issues
related to the measurement of loyalty. They introduced the notion of “relative attitude”
as a means to provide better theoretical grounding to the loyalty construct. Relative
attitude refers to “a favorable attitude that is high compared to potential alternatives”
(Dick and Basu, 1994, p. 100). They suggest that loyalty maybe an outcome of both a
more favorable attitude towards a brand (as compared to alternatives) and repeat
patronage. Furthermore, they state that low relative attitude with low repeat purchase
connotes absence of loyalty, while low relative attitude with high repeat purchase
indicates spurious loyalty.
Bloemer and Kasper (1995, p. 312) in a similar vein suggested that one should
“explicitly take into account the degree of a consumer’s commitment to a brand when
he/she repurchases a brand”. Thus repeat purchasing behavior alone does not imply a
consumer is loyal to a brand. True loyalty implies a commitment towards a brand and
not just repurchasing due to inertia (Bloemer and Kasper, 1995). Consumers who
repurchase a brand due to inertia may be easily induced to switch brands when offered
a price-cut, or coupon. Thus, a favorable relative attitude and not just repurchase is a
prerequisite for loyalty.
The relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty is well
established in the literature at both the “transaction-specific” level and the “overall”
level (Oliver, 1999; Bitner and Hubbert, 1994). Research findings have offered robust
evidence in this respect – demonstrating a definite positive relationship between
customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Similarly, Anderson and Sullivan
(1993) found that stated repurchase intentions are strongly related to stated
satisfaction across product categories.
EJM Service quality
41,7/8 Delivering quality service is considered to be essential strategy for success in today’s
competitive environment (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990;
Zeithaml et al., 1990, 1996). Companies that offer superior service achieve
higher-than-normal growth in market share (Buzzell and Gale, 1987) and increased
profits (through higher market share and being able to offer premium prices) (Philips
840 et al., 1983).
The conceptualisation and measurement of perceptions of service quality are
among the most debated and controversial contemporary topics in the
services-marketing literature (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Zeithaml, 2000; Zins, 2001;
Rust and Oliver, 2000; Lapierre et al., 1996). Because services are intangible, consumers
assess quality subjectively. Such perceived service/product quality has been referred to
as “elusive” (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Smith, 1999), and research relative to the
construct is still considered “unresolved” (Carhuana et al., 2000, p. 57).

Early definitions of service quality were based on the so-called “disconfirmation”
paradigm. According to Parasuraman et al. (1985), a perception of service quality is a
result of a comparison between what consumers consider the service should be and
their perceptions about the actual performance offered by the service provider.
Parasuraman et al. (1985) postulated five dimensions of the service experience in their
well-known SERVQUAL model: reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, and
tangibility. Service quality has also been defined as the result of a comparison between
the received service and the expected service (Grönroos, 1984). According to Grönroos,
quality as experienced by a customer is based on two dimensions – technical and
functional – moderated by the company image. The functional dimension takes into
account the way a service is provided (courtesy, attention, promptness,
professionalism, and so on), whereas the technical dimension refers to the result of
the service as such (for example, a life-insurance policy).
In the Grönroos’ (1983, 1984) model, image – on a company and/or local level – was
introduced in the model as a filter between the two quality dimensions called functional
(how the service process functions) and technical (what the service process leads to for
the customer in a “technical” sense), that influences the quality perception either
favourably, neutrally or unfavourably, depending on whether the customer considers
the service good, neutral or bad. As image perceptions change over time depending on
customers’ quality perceptions, it adds a dynamic aspect to the model, which in other
respects is static (cf. Grönroos, 1993).
The model states that the consumer is not interested only on what he/she receives as
an outcome of the production process, but also on the process itself. The perception of
the functionality of the technical outcome (technical quality) is a major determinant of
the way he/she appreciates the effort of the service provider. Functional quality
corresponds to the expressive performance of a service. Hence, those two distinct
quality dimensions conceptualise the “what” (is offered) and “how” of the service
offering. Obviously, the functional quality dimension (subjective in nature) cannot be
evaluated as objectively as the technical one. The “perceived service” is the result of a
customer’s view of a bundle of service dimensions, some of which are technical and
some of which are functional in nature. Perceived service quality is the outcome of
perceived service when compared with expected service.
The SERVQUAL scale has been subject to criticisms and heated debate in the Service quality
service quality literature since 1990 by Carman and subsequently by other researchers
(e.g. Babakus and Boller, 1992; Brown et al., 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1992, 1994; Teas,
1993, 1994) with regard to both conceptual foundation and methodological limitations.
The concept of service quality is criticised from a theoretical perspective as
confounding the concept of customer satisfaction since the SERVQUAL scale is based
on the same disconfirmation model which is widely adopted in the customer 841
satisfaction literature (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). The operationalisation of the service
quality concept as performance minus expectation makes it difficult to reconcile with a
general attitudinal model even though service quality is conceptualised as an attitude
by the SERVQUAL developers (Carman, 1990; Taylor, 1995).
From an empirical perspective, Carman (1990) found that the five SERVQUAL
dimensions are not generic and they should be industry-specific. Other researchers
using the instrument do not confirm the five-factor structure (e.g. Babakus, 1993;
Babakus and Boller, 1992; Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Secondly, Carman (1990) also
commented on the value of measuring ex-post expectations. This is consistent with the
finding of Clow and Vorhies (1993) that customers who have a negative experience
with the service tend to overstate their expectations, creating a large gap and
customers who have a positive experience tend to understate their expectations,
resulting in smaller gaps. It seems that there are widespread concerns about measuring
expectations. Oliver (1989) and later on Bolton and Drew (1991) has argued that
customers’ assessments of continuously provided services (such as telephone services)
may depend solely on performance.
Parasuraman et al. (1994) and other researchers (Cronin and Taylor, 1994; Teas,
1994) have also disagreed on the usefulness of capturing expectations in SERVQUAL.
Cronin and Taylor (1992) do not find the P-E framework to be efficient in measuring
service quality and point out the superiority of the performance-only SERVPERF scale
in terms of construct validity and operational efficacy. Teas (1993), raises the problem
of ideal performance in which the level of performance over expectation will lead to
negative service quality evaluations. It is evident in most SERVQUAL studies that
expectation-scores are quite high, often over six but not seven on a seven-point Likert
scale, which would imply that these expectations have an infinite ideal-point. Brown
et al. (1993) question the low reliability of the SERVQUAL scale when using the
difference scores (i.e. P-E score). The use of difference scoring has already been
criticised in the customer satisfaction literature (Prakash and Launsbury, 1984).
The Grönroos model precedes that of Parasuraman et al. (1988), but the objectives of
the two models are different. The Grönroos’ model was never intended to be an
operational model of service quality. It was developed and introduced as a theoretical
construct to help academics and practitioners understand the nature of the missing
product of service firms, i.e. to understand the service process itself as the solution to
customer problems – a primary objective of marketing – in order to develop a
consistent and well-functioning marketing tool for service providers (how quality of
the service perceived by customers was expected to be measured using customer
satisfaction approaches). However, the introduction of the “perceived service quality”
model created an interest in measuring service quality instead of measuring only
customer satisfaction (Grönroos, 1998).
EJM In the present study, the authors argue that the different proposals with respect to
41,7/8 the dimensions of service quality differ mainly in their level of aggregation (in the same
vein, see Brady and Cronin’s (2001) hierarchical approach). Using this approach, it is
possible to identify many of the dimensions proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1985) in
Grönroos’ (1984) two-dimensional proposal. It is apparent that evaluations of service
quality are complex processes that operate at various levels of abstraction (Carman,
842 1990; Brady and Cronin, 2001). Furthermore, some authors have argued that
service/product quality is an industry-specific concept (Babakus and Boller, 1992;
Teas, 1988). Taking these views into account, the present authors adopted the
Grönroos proposition – with the technical and functional dimensions being taken as
the dominant levels of service quality studied.
Because the technical quality dimension refers to what was actually delivered to the
client, the present study of advertising agencies incorporated the dimension of
“advertising campaign” as the technical-quality dimension of the model being tested.

This dimension is concerned with the actual service and the perceived quality of the
advertising campaign and its reflection on the firm’s brand image. In terms of
Grönroos’ functional dimension, “commercial service”, “communication”,
“administrative service”, and “delivery service” were incorporated in the model.
Relationship quality
Drawing on the above literature review, the present study focuses on “relationship
quality” as a relationship outcome and an overall means of assessing the strength of a
relationship between two firms (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Smith, 1998).
There is, as yet, no clear consensus in the literature on the set of dimensions that
comprise the construct of “relationship quality” (Dorsch et al., 1998; Kumar et al., 1995;
Bejou et al., 1998; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002). The importance of relationship
satisfaction and trust as indicators of the higher-order construct of relationship quality
has been stressed by various authors (Crosby et al., 1990; Dwyer et al., 1987;
Shamdasani and Balakrishnan, 2000; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2001). Other researchers
have added relationship commitment as a dimension of relationship quality
(Hennig-Thurau and Klee, 1997; Leuthesser, 1997; Dorsch et al., 1998;
Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002; Roberts et al., 2003; Hewett et al., 2002). In the same
context, de Wulf et al. (2001) assumed that better relationship quality is accompanied
by greater satisfaction, trust, and commitment – pointing out that, although these
three attitudinal dimensions are distinct, consumers tend to “lump” them together
(Crosby et al., 1990; de Wulf et al., 2001). On the other hand, Woo and Ennew (2004),
conceptualised relationship quality as a higher-order construct using cooperation,
adaptation and atmosphere as first-order constructs determining overall relationship
quality. They provided evidence of a direct and positive influence of relationship
quality on service quality but failed to establish the same link with satisfaction and
behavioural intention.
Taking these three core variables (satisfaction, trust, and commitment) as
interrelated (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002), the present study therefore examined their
effect on loyalty as a relationship outcome. Relationship satisfaction was captured in
terms of the overall appraisal of the relationship with the supplier firm; trust was
captured as the client’s confidence in a supplier’s integrity; and commitment was taken
to be the buying firm’s enduring desire to continue a relationship with the vendor. Each Service quality
of these is explored in greater detail below.
Relationship satisfaction
One of the most critical elements in B2B markets, and particularly a service market
such as the advertising industry, is the development of client relationships. The
complexity of the products and services and the long-term nature of business 843
relationships in the advertising industry mean that effective and satisfactory business
relationships are of the greatest importance in the marketing of advertising services.
According to the principles of relationship marketing, successful business
relationships enhance client satisfaction and thus enhance the performance of firms.
In the past, relationship satisfaction has been conceptualised as a prerequisite for
relationship quality. Crosby and Stevens (1987) identified three levels of relationship
satisfaction:
(1) Interactions with personnel.
(2) Core service.
(3) The organisation.
In their study of insurance customers, Crosby and Stevens (1987) found that all three
levels contribute to overall satisfaction with the relationship. In a business context,
relationship satisfaction has been defined as a positive affective state resulting from a
firm’s appraisal of all aspects of its working relationship with another firm (Anderson
and Narus, 1990; Ganesan, 1994; Dwyer et al., 1987).
Satisfaction with the relationship is important, but satisfaction per se does not
automatically lead to repurchase (Reichheld and Aspinall, 1993). Some studies have
investigated the relationship between service quality and consumer satisfaction, and
although they have highlighted the antecedent role of consumer satisfaction in
perceptions of service quality (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Boulding et al., 1993), most
findings actually support a reverse cause-and-effect relationship (Anderson et al., 1994;
Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Dick and Basu, 1994). In line with de Wulf et al. (2001), the
present study conceptualised relationship satisfaction as an affective state – in
contrast to a more rational outcome (Smith and Barclay, 1997). The present study
posited relationship satisfaction as a cumulative affect developed over the course of a
relationship – not as the outcome of a specific transaction (Anderson et al., 1997). In
addition, in an effort to avoid overlap between perceptions of service quality and
perceptions of relationship, the present study assesses relationship satisfaction as an
overall (global) relationship assessment.
As a result of the above discussion, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H1. That perceptions of technical quality have a positive influence on relationship
satisfaction.
H1a. That perceptions of the quality of an advertising campaign have a positive
influence on relationship satisfaction.
H2. That perceptions of functional quality have a positive influence on
relationship satisfaction.
EJM H2a. That the quality of a commercial service has a positive influence on
41,7/8 relationship satisfaction.
H2b. That the quality of communication with the supplier has a positive influence
on relationship satisfaction.
H2c. That the quality of delivery of a service has a positive influence on
844 relationship satisfaction.
H2d. That the quality of administrative service has a positive influence on
relationship satisfaction.
The role of satisfaction in predicting behavioural intentions is well established in the
literature (Anderson et al., 1994; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Zeithaml et al., 1996), with
the majority of studies assuming that previous experience of transactional customer
relationships is a primary determinant of repeated purchasing behaviour. Numerous

studies have established relationships between service quality and loyalty,
hypothesising an indirect effect (e.g. Andreassen and Lindestad, 1998; Ostrowski
et al., 1993; Patterson and Spreng, 1997; Pritchard and Howard, 1997) mediated by
satisfaction. Recent findings provide evidence of a positive direct relationship between
relationship satisfaction and loyalty. Ping (1993, 1999) in line with Hirschman (1970)
states that as overall relationship satisfaction declines, loyal behaviour should also
decline and ending the relationship should be more likely. Nevertheless, for
relationships where attempting to solve the relationship problem is preferable to
ending the relationship, loyal behaviour should be less likely as satisfaction declines
(Ping, 1993). In a similar vein, Forrester and Maute (2001) provide strong evidence that
high relationship satisfaction can lessen the intensity of blame and anger in damaged
relationships.
The following hypothesis is therefore proposed:
H3. That higher levels of customer satisfaction with the relationship lead to
higher levels of business loyalty.
Relationship commitment
Relationship commitment exists when a partner believes the relationship is important
enough to warrant maximum efforts at maintaining that relationship in the long term.
Moorman et al. (1992) defined relationship commitment as an enduring desire to
maintain a valued relationship. Commitment is of critical importance in organisational
buying behaviour and can lead to important outcomes such as decreased customer
turnover (Porter et al., 1974) and higher motivation (Farrell and Rusbult, 1981).
Commitment is positively related to loyalty and repeated purchase and, because
relationship performance is critical to repurchase decisions in a relational exchange,
business loyalty is similar to relationship commitment (Morgan and Hunt, 1994).
Commitment and loyalty are two concepts connected but different. Indeed,
commitment exceeds the framework of the favourable attitude towards the brand:
commitment has a stronger solidity, robustness and stability than the general attitude
towards the brand (Goala, 2003). Beyond the favourable or unfavourable appreciation
of the brand, commitment plays the role of stabilising the behaviours in time
irrelevantly of the circumstances (Scholl, 1981), being an essential component of
long-term loyalty (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Commitment towards a brand is based on Service quality
three principal behavioural consequences: the repurchase of the brand (Amine, 1999;
Geyer et al., 1991), resistance to modifications generated from the competing universe
(Crosby and Taylor, 1983; Debling, 1998) and resistance to negative feelings generated
by specific dissatisfactions (Gurviez, 1999). Commitment results in a preference
towards the brand, the will to continue using it and a resistance to the actions of
competition (Bettencourt, 1997; Zeithaml et al., 1996). Commitment also helps 845
customers to develop positive intentions towards an extension of the brand to new
categories of products (Gurviez, 1999) moderating the effects of negative information
about the brand on the changes of consumers’ attitudes (Ahluwalia et al., 2001).
On the other hand, loyalty is described as “a deeply held commitment to re-buy or
repurchase a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing
repetitive same-brand or same-set purchasing, despite situational influences and
marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior” (Oliver, 1999,
p. 34). Oliver (1997) describes the consumer who “fervently desires to re-buy a product
or service and will have no other”, as a consumer who will pursue this quest “against
all odds at all costs”. These latter conditions define the concept of “ultimate loyalty”.
Anderson and Weitz (1992) saw manufacturer-distributor commitment as the
adoption of a long-term orientation towards the relationship. They proposed that
mutual commitment results in “channel members” working together to serve the needs
of end-customers’ more effectively – thus increasing mutual profitability beyond what
either member could achieve by operating independently. The following hypothesis is
therefore proposed:
H4. That relationship commitment has a positive effect on business loyalty.
Trust
Ganesan (1994) found that long-term orientation is affected by the extent to which
customers and vendors trust their “channel partners”. Each partner’s ability to provide
positive outcomes to the other determines commitment to the relationship. Trust is
therefore a major determinant of relationship commitment (Morgan and Hunt, 1994),
and exists when there is confidence in a partner’s reliability and integrity. Moorman
et al. (1993) defined trust as a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one
has confidence. More specifically, Anderson and Narus (1990) defined trust in
manufacturer-distributor relationships as a firm’s belief that another company will
perform actions that will result in positive outcomes, and that the other company will
not take unexpected actions that result in negative outcomes for the firm. Similarly,
Ganesan (1994) proposed that a key component of trust is the extent to which the
customer believes that the vendor has intentions and motives beneficial to the
customer and is concerned with creating positive customer outcomes. Suppliers who
are perceived as being concerned with positive customer outcomes will therefore be
trusted to a greater extent than suppliers who appear interested only in their own
welfare. According to Morgan and Hunt (1994), commitment and trust together
encourage marketers:
.
to work towards preserving relationship investments by cooperating with
exchange partners;
EJM .
to resist attractive short-term alternatives in favour of the long-term expected
41,7/8 benefits of staying with existing partners; and
.
to view potentially high-risk actions more favourably because they believe that
their partners will not act opportunistically.
The following hypothesis is therefore proposed:

846
H5. That trust has a positive effect on business loyalty.
On the basis of relational theory, it is widely agreed in the literature that trust and
commitment are key variables in influencing customer loyalty in successful relational
exchanges. However, there is a gap in the literature with respect to the possibility that
trust and commitment reflect the level of relationship satisfaction, rather than driving
it. In an effort to highlight the mediating role of relationship satisfaction – most often
discussed in the literature in terms of dissatisfied customers (Kelley and Davis, 1994;
Tax et al., 1998) – the following hypotheses are therefore proposed:
H6. That higher levels of customer satisfaction with a relationship are associated
with higher levels of commitment in the relationship.
H7. That higher levels of customer satisfaction with a relationship are associated
with higher levels of trust in the relationship.
Trust and commitment are both very important elements in ensuring a long-term
orientation towards a business relationship – an orientation that is necessary to
implement relationship-marketing strategies. It is important that companies select
their partners carefully, share common values, and maintain excellent communication
at all times during the relationship continuum. To ensure a cooperative relationship
that is mutually beneficial, companies must also ensure that they provide resources
and benefits superior to the offerings of other companies, and that they avoid taking
advantage of their partners in any way (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Ultimately, the key
factors that hold a relationship together are goal compatibility, commitment, trust,
satisfaction, investments, social and structural bonding, and a favourable comparison
with alternatives (Wilson and Jantrania, 1994) (Figure 2).
In accordance with the theory of trust and commitment as mediators (Morgan and
Hunt, 1994), and recent findings by Garbarino and Johnson (1999), the present study
examined trust as a precursor of commitment – with the latter being posited as a
Figure 2.
The research model and
hypotheses
construct that involves vulnerability and sacrifice, and therefore emerging only in Service quality
relationships in which trust is already established (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999). The
following hypothesis is therefore proposed:
H8. That trust has a positive effect on a client’s commitment.
Methodology 847
The research instrument was a questionnaire containing 26 items. The measuring scale
was a ten-point Likert-type scale that ranged from “1” (“completely disagree”) to “10”
(“completely agree”). Items evaluated the following constructs:
.
global relationship satisfaction;
.
communication;
.
delivery of service;
.
administrative service;
. commercial service;
.
trust;
.
commitment; and
.
loyalty.
Because different service dimensions are relevant in different industries, it was necessary
to develop multiple scale items that would adequately capture the particular study
context of advertising agencies. To develop these items, initial qualitative research was
conducted with senior managers of 20 client firms. Several items not considered in
previous studies were included to ensure that the questionnaire was relevant to the
advertising industry. Key questions were examined by an academic skilled in
questionnaire design and by two senior consultants familiar with the research setting.
The questionnaire was then developed and pre-tested – including a series of interviews
with buying centres and managers from the advertising industry to ensure that the
questions included in the survey instrument were readily interpretable.
The “functional” service-quality dimensions were measured using items from the
service-quality literature, whereas the “technical” quality dimension of “advertising”
was operationalised on the basis of the quality of the advertising campaign and its
reflection of the firm’s brand image. Trust was operationalised by adapting Doney and
Cannon’s (1997) measure, and commitment was measured using a scale adapted from
Morgan and Hunt (1994). Loyalty was measured by two items that focused on the
likelihood of continuing doing business with the supplier and recommending the
supplier to a partner. Finally relationship satisfaction was measured using a
single-item measurement that focused on the perception of global relationship
satisfaction in line with Mittal et al. (1998) and Kekre et al. (1995). The single-item
measurement of satisfaction constitutes a limitation in comparison to multi-item scales
used to measure the concept, in terms of skew ness and errors. However, LaBarbera
and Mazursky (1983), argue that the use of multi-item scales in studies of a large scale
measuring satisfaction can decrease the quality of measurement rather than improving
it. Moreover, Yi (1990) compared the test/retest reliabilities of various scales of
satisfaction with one or more items and showed that those using one item are
acceptable.
EJM The sample consisted of companies that buy advertising services and that are
41,7/8 engaged in relationships with advertising agencies in a range of media advertising –
including Internet applications, advertising blocks between prime-time television
programs, radio spots linked to radio programs on stations that cater for a broad
public, outdoor billboards and eye-catching poster campaigns, and newspapers,
magazines, and trade publications. In all, 774 companies were randomly selected from
848 an advertising directory in the European country. These companies were contacted by
telephone (first wave of 500 calls and a follow-up of 274 calls), and 262 responses were
received (a response rate of about 34 per cent). Of the 262 responses, 28 completed
questionnaires were eliminated because of excessive missing data – resulting in a final
sample of 234 companies.
The first step in data treatment and analysis consisted of conducting exploratory
factor analysis in an initial group of 158 companies (first wave of answers) to verify
that the service-quality indicators fell within the dimensions theoretically proposed
above – functional dimension (communication, delivery service, administrative
service, and commercial service) and technical dimension (advertising). Secondly,
confirmatory factor analysis was conducted (on the final sample of 234 companies) on
the indicators for the eight latent constructs. A final CFA model was developed, and
this demonstrated good measurement properties. Thirdly, the study investigated the
relative effects of the different service-quality dimensions on relationship satisfaction,
trust, commitment, and loyalty.
Results
Exploratory factor analysis
The items used to measure each construct were tested using exploratory factor
analysis to verify the factor structure and identify items for deletion – that is, items
with low factor loading and/or high cross loading. Varimax rotation was employed to
derive a simple structure, and factors with eigen-values less than 1 were screened out
(Gorsuch, 1983). The factor structure that emerged was more or less consistent with the
initial conceptualisation of the dimensions of model – with the exception that all of the
trust and commitment items loaded on a single dimension (see Table I). The fact that
the factor loadings of the items of trust and commitment were not of the same order of
magnitude demonstrates that the concepts of engagement and confidence are
connected, although not necessarily representing only one concept. These results did
not prevent a continuation of the analysis – because the discriminating validity
between these concepts could be later checked to confirm that they were two connected
concepts, albeit different.
Confirmatory factor analysis

Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using LISREL 8.52. This demonstrated
that the hypothesised model fitted the data reasonably well (see Table II), and that the
overall fit of the model was adequate. The Jöreskog and Sörbom (1996) GFI was 0.90,
and the CFI (Bentler, 1990; Bollen, 1989; Gerbing and Anderson, 1992) was 0.99. There
were no standardised residuals over an absolute value of 0.15, and the chi-square was
282.10 with 187 degrees of freedom.
In checking for convergent validity, the measurement factor loadings were all found
to be significant (t-values between 9.31 and 17.44), the construct reliabilities were large
Service quality
Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor Factor
Items 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Trust (a ¼ 0:8051)
My supplier really takes care of my needs as a
customer 0.593
I trust completely my supplier 0.501 849
Commitment (a ¼ 0:8890)
I feel involved with my supplier’s company 0.861
I defend my supplier in front of other colleagues
and external partners 0.798
I am very proud to have this company as a
supplier 0.847
Commercial service (a ¼ 0:8011)

Your supplier provided you with adequate
consultation before proposing the best solution 0.681
Your commercial responsibilities towards your
supplier were clear 0.711
Your supplier respects his/her promises 0.661
Your supplier contacts you often 0.595
There is adequate continuity in your relationship
with your supplier 0.676
Administrative service (a ¼ 0:8191)

Orders are confirmed on time 0.783
The terms of contracts signed are always clear 0.782
Invoices sent from your supplier are always clear 0.752
Invoices sent from your supplier are always
precise 0.821
Advertising campaign (a ¼ 0:8059)

Attractiveness of the advertising campaign
proposed 0.789
The advertising campaign proposed reflected
sufficiently your brand image 0.824
Communication (a ¼ 0:9224)
Your supplier informs you sufficiently for the
potential of internet applications 0.884
Your supplier provides clear information
concerning the capability of his company
concerning internet applications 0.884
Service delivery (a ¼ 0:8460)

Your supplier is aware of your needs concerning
distribution of advertising material 0.850
The delivery of advertising material is always on
time 0.873
Loyalty (a ¼ 0:7517)
I would continue doing business with my supplier 0.658
I would definitely recommend my supplier to a Table I.
partner 0.789 Exploratory factor
analysis with varimax
Explained variance (%) 15.54 13.99 13.84 8.87 8.82 8.23 7.20 rotation
EJM
Reliability Average
41,7/8 for the variance
Factor construct extracted
Items loading l T-value rh rvcðhÞ
Commercial service 0.87 0.574

850 Your supplier provided you with adequate
consultation before proposing the best solution 0.79 13.51
Your commercial responsibilities towards your
supplier were clear 0.78 11.18
Your supplier respects his/her promises 0.76 11.13
Your supplier contacts you often 0.71 11.63
There is adequate continuity in your
relationship with your supplier 0.66 10.42
Communication 0.90 0.82

Your supplier informs you sufficiently for the
potential of internet applications 0.90 16.13
Your supplier provides clear information
concerning the capability of his company
concerning internet applications 0.91 16.62
Advertising campaign 0.91 0.84

Attractiveness of the advertising campaign
proposed 0.94 17.84
The advertising campaign proposed reflected
sufficiently your brand image 0.90 16.54
Service delivery 0.84 0.73

Your supplier is aware of your needs
concerning distribution of advertising material 0.86 13.74
The delivery of advertising material is always
on time 0.85 13.60
Administrative service 0.87 0.62
Orders are confirmed on time 0.84 14.96
The terms of contracts signed are always clear 0.83 14.56
clear 0.77 13.04
precise 0.70 11.58
Trust 0.82 0.70

My supplier really takes care of my needs as a
customer 0.80 13.26
I trust completely my supplier 0.89 15.65
Commitment 0.93 0.81

I feel involved with my supplier’s company 0.91 16.54
I defend my supplier in front of other colleagues
and external partners 0.94 17.44
I am very proud to have this company as a
Table II. supplier 0.86 15.30
Confirmatory factor
analysis (continued)
Reliability Average
Service quality
for the variance
Factor construct extracted
Items loading l T-value rh rvcðhÞ
Loyalty 0.74 0.60

I would continue doing business with my 851
supplier 0.90 13.88
I would definitely recommend my supplier to a
partner 0.62 9.31 Table II.
(ranging from 0.74 to 0.93), and the average variance extracted (Fornell and Larcker,
1981) indicated that, in each case, the variance captured by the construct was greater
than the variance due to measurement error (AVEs ranging between 0.521 and 0.841;
see Table II).
Finally, to test for discriminant validity, the procedure described by Fornell and
Larcker (1981) was used. As an indication of discriminant validity, the AVE for each
construct should be higher than the squared correlation between that construct and
any other construct. This test held in the present study. In no case was there a squared
correlation between any two constructs that was higher than either of the constructs’
AVE (see Table III).
Structural model
Having established that the proposed measurement model was consistent with the
data, the hypotheses were then tested with LISREL 8.52, using the covariance matrix.
Figure 3 shows the completely standardised parameters and t-values of this model.
The fit of the model was reasonably good, with a chi-square of 410.48 (206 df,
p ¼ 0:00), a GFI of 0.87, an AGFI of 0.83, and a CFI of 0.98. Because the GFI and AGFI
values are considerably influenced by variations in sample size and non-normality of
the measures, previous authors have recommended the comparative fit index (CFI) as
an alternative measure of fit (Burton et al., 1998). In the present study, there were no
standardised residuals over an absolute value of 0.37. The variation explained by the
structural relationships was 64 per cent for commercial service, 46 per cent for
relationship satisfaction, 30 per cent for trust, 52 per cent for commitment, and 60 per
cent for loyalty.
As hypothesised, the service-quality dimensions had a significant effect on
relationship satisfaction. H1 and H2 were thus confirmed. More specifically, technical
quality (advertising) had a greater effect on relationship satisfaction than functional
quality (commercial service, communication, delivery service, and administrative
service). Although commercial service had a significant effect on relationship
satisfaction, the effects of communication, delivery of service, and administrative
service on relationship were indirect – indicating that these effects are mediated
through commercial service.
Relationship satisfaction was found to have a strong and significant effect on trust,
commitment, and loyalty – thus confirming H3, H6, and H7. Trust and commitment
had a greater effect on loyalty than did relationship satisfaction – thus confirming H4
and H5. The variation explained by the structural relationships between relationship
EJM
852
41,7/8
Table III.
Test results on
discriminant validity
convergent validity and
Trust Commitment Commercial service Administrative service Advertising Communication Service delivery Loyalty
Trust 0.701 *
Commitment 0.500 * * 0.814 *
Commercial service 0.520 * * 0.400 * * 0.521 *
Administrative service 0.35 * * 0.160 * * 0.370 * * 0.620 *
Advertising campaign 0.270 * * 0.280 * * 0.440 * * 0.480 * * 0.841 *
Communication 0.180 * * 0.120 * * 0.500 * * 0.200 * * 0.320 * * 0.821 *
Service delivery 0.200 * * 0.180 * * 0.320 * * 0.340 * * 0.250 * * 0.220 * * 0.724 *
Loyalty 0.460 * * 0.480 * * 0.480 * * 0.180 * * 0.340 * * 0.160 * * 0.230 * * 0.596 *
Notes: *The diagonal entries (in italics) represent the average variance extracted by the construct; * *The off-diagonal entries represent the variance
shared (squared correlation) between constructs
Source: Fornell and Larcker (1981)
Service quality
853
Figure 3.
The structural model
satisfaction, trust and commitment, and business loyalty was 60 per cent, whereas the
variation explained only by relationship satisfaction was 44 per cent. Trust was found
to have a strong, significant, and positive effect on commitment – thus confirming H8.
Focusing on the indirect effects of communication, delivery of service, and
administrative service on relationship satisfaction, it was apparent that these effects
are mediated through commercial service. To demonstrate that commercial service
completely mediates the effect of communication, service delivery, and administrative
service on relationship satisfaction, it was necessary to demonstrate that value had a
significant bi-variate relationship with relationship satisfaction, and that this effect
was non-significant when these constructs were linked to relationship satisfaction
through commercial service (Baron and Kenny, 1986). The results confirmed this
mediating role of commercial service.
Finally, in order to evaluate the mediating role of relationship satisfaction (RS),
multiple regression analyses have been carried out using the average of the indicators
for the multiple items latent variables (advertising (AD), commercial service (CS), trust
(TR), commitment (CO) and loyalty (LO)). To test mediation, one should estimate the
three following regression equations as proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986):
(1) Regressing the mediator on the independent variable.
(2) Regressing the dependent variable on the independent variable.
(3) Regressing the dependent variable on both the independent variable and the
mediator.
To establish mediation, the following conditions must hold: first, the independent
variable must affect the mediator in the first regression; second, the independent
variable needs to affect the dependent variable; and third, the mediator must affect the
dependent variable in the third equation. If all these conditions hold in the predicted
direction, then the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable must be
EJM less in the third equation than in the second. Perfect mediation exists if the independent
41,7/8 variable has no effect when the mediator is controlled:
(1) In RS ¼ a1 þ b1 * AD þ 11 ; b1 must be significant.
(2) In LO ¼ a2 þ b2 * AD þ 12 ; b2 must be significant.
(3) In LO ¼ a3 þ bAD * AD þ bRS * RS þ 13 , bAD and bRS must be significant and
854 bAD , b2.
The results of Table IV demonstrate that in all cases relationship satisfaction is a
partial mediator between the dimensions of service quality (advertising and
commercial service) and trust, commitment and loyalty.
Results on Table V demonstrate that the impact of administrative service on
relationship satisfaction is reduced by the presence of commercial service, confirming
thus, that commercial service plays a role of partial mediator between those latter
constructs. On the other hand, there is a clear case of perfect mediation or total
mediation as the influence of communication and delivery service disappears
completely in the presence of commercial service (Brauer, 2000; Kenny et al., 1998).
These results show that only part of the effect of administrative service on satisfaction
is exerted through the mediating variable (commercial service) while the other part of
this effect is exerted directly on relationship satisfaction or, possibly, via another
variable not taken into account in the model.
Conclusions
Developing and sustaining loyalty, especially in a B2B setting, is difficult to achieve.
The determinants of customer loyalty underlying relational exchanges in a business
environment are still unclear. This study contributes to the relationship-marketing
literature in three significant respects.
First, the study integrates the concepts of service/product quality, relationship
satisfaction, trust, and commitment in a business-loyalty model. Earlier studies have
rarely examined the role of service/product quality perceptions in shaping business
relationships.
Secondly, the present study demonstrates the benefits of investing in relationships
based on trust and commitment. It achieves this by demonstrating the effect of
relationship quality (and its determinants) on business loyalty.
Thirdly, this study is the first attempt to provide empirical evidence of the role of
relationship satisfaction as a mediating variable between the constructs of
service/product quality and business loyalty.
The main objectives of this survey were:
.
to merge the concepts of service/product quality, consumer relationship
satisfaction, trust, and commitment with loyalty in an integrated model; and
.
to test this model empirically.
The results indicate that perceptions of service/product performance can be viewed as

antecedents to relationship satisfaction which, in turn, affects trust, commitment, and
business loyalty. The “functional quality” (or “how” construct), including
communication, delivery, and administrative activities, and the “technical quality”
(or “what” construct), including the actual service provided, were found to have a direct
Independent variable Mediator Dependent variable b1 signif? b2 signif? bAD and bRS signif? and bAD, bCS , b2?
(1) AD RS TR t ¼ 10:187 U t ¼ 7:887 U t AD ¼ 4:015; t RS ¼ 7:887; bAD , b2 U

(2) CS RS TR t ¼ 12:575 U t ¼ 15:335 U t CS ¼ 10:796; t RS ¼ 4:211; bCS , b2 U
(3) AD RS CO t ¼ 10:187 U t ¼ 8:376 U t AD ¼ 4:590; t RS ¼ 7:113; bAD , b2U
(4) CS RS CO t ¼ 12:575 U t ¼ 10:378 U tCS ¼ 6:132; t RS ¼ 5:384; bCS , b2U
(5) AD RS LO t ¼ 10:187 U t ¼ 9:142 U t AD ¼ 5:698; t RS ¼ 6:316; bAD , b2 U
(6) CS RS LO t ¼ 12:575 U t ¼ 12:107 U t CS ¼ 7:970; t RS ¼ 4:800; bCS , b2 U
Notes: AD: advertising; CS: commercial service; RS: relationship satisfaction; TR: trust; CO: commitment; LO: loyalty
effect of relationship
Test of the mediating
service quality
commitment and loyalty

relationship between
dimensions and trust,

satisfaction in the
Service quality
855
Table IV.
EJM
856
41,7/8
Table V.
satisfaction
delivery service,
and relationship
effect of commercial
Test of the mediator
administrative service
between communication,
service in the relationship
Independent variable Mediator Dependent variable b1 signif? b2 signif? bCOM and bCS signif? and bCOM, bDS and bAS , b2?
(1) COM CS RS t ¼ 10:144 t ¼ 4:309 t COM ¼ 20:171; t CS ¼ 10:836; bCOM , b2

(2) DS CS RS t ¼ 6:237 t ¼ 4:364 t DS ¼ 1:567; t CS ¼ 10:207; bDS , b2
(3) AS CS RS t ¼ 11:769 t ¼ 9:987 t AS ¼ 4:737; t CS ¼ 8:234; bAS , b2
Notes: COMM: communication; CS: commercial service; RS: relationship satisfaction; DS: delivery service; AS: administrative service
effect on relationship satisfaction – with the first dimension being the more powerful, Service quality
thus confirming the first hypothesis underlying the research model.
From a theoretical perspective, the most important finding from the present
empirical study is the mediating role of relationship satisfaction. In the same context,
another important finding is that the direct influence of service/product performance
on customer loyalty was not supported – in accordance with existing literature
confirming the mediating role of consumer satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). 857
Relationship satisfaction mediates the relationship between the functional and
technical dimensions of service quality and business loyalty. As noted above,
relationship quality has been widely accepted in the literature as a relationship
outcome and an overall assessment of the strength of the relationship. The findings of
the present study confirm the significant effect of all the components of relationship
quality – relationship satisfaction, trust, and commitment – on business loyalty.
Managerial implications – limitations – future research

The present model can be considered as a realistic empirical approach capturing the
major part of a business transaction demonstrating the causality between the related
constructs and their direct or not influence on loyalty. Thus we could easily distinguish
different procedures that affect relationship satisfaction on the one hand - starting from
communication, moving to administrative service and delivery driving commercial
service – influencing through trust and commitment, loyalty on the other.
This approach confirms both the classical functional/technical and
multidimensional modeling of service quality (Grönroos, 1982, 1984, 1988;
Parasuraman et al., 1988, 1985) existing in the services literature. It is evident that
there is a need for practitioners to be cautious in applying both instruments as their
attributes and determinants should always be reassessed according to different
services, markets and cultural environments. Following those two schools of thought,
and trying to assess what constitutes a given service in a business-to-business
environment, the five determinants and the two dimensions of service quality
constitute a valuable starting point in an effort to capture the elements characterising
the service that is provided. However, the findings should put professional services’
managers on alert about the influence of commercial service on relationship
satisfaction, which may be context or industry specific.
From a managerial standpoint, it is apparent that commercial service lies on the
heart of this specific model affecting directly relationship satisfaction while the same
time is being affected by communication, delivery and administrative service. The
mediating role of this construct provides evidence concerning the importance of the
commercial side of a transaction and its key role in affecting relationship satisfaction.
From a strategic point of view this study shows potential areas of competitive
advantage and relationship strategies development. Relationship quality and its
determinants (relationship satisfaction, trust and commitment) is of particular interest
as it can help firms achieve competitive advantage but it seems that they should not
emphasise solely on the relationship aspect itself as there is an important commercial
issue associated that influences buying centres satisfaction and loyalty levels. In this
service continuum, managers need to clearly define relationship development
strategies, service provision policies and develop homogeneous service provision.
EJM Towards this direction, it is essential that firms communicate the service and product
41,7/8 quality standards to partners so that differences in service provision can be avoided.
Moreover, relationship satisfaction seems to absorb the direct influence of service
quality on loyalty filtering service provision with the relational aspects that need to be
implemented in an industrial setting. The role of trust and commitment development is
of strategic importance as they are both directly associated with the creation of a
858 relational atmosphere of high relationship quality influencing directly behavioural
intentions. From a measurement perspective and in line with recent research efforts
(Woo and Ennew, 2004) the conceptualisation of relationship quality as a higher-order
construct provides practitioners with a valuable tool of business-to-business
relationship quality measurement on the basis of relationship satisfaction, trust and
commitment. Therefore, services managers are advised to focus their efforts in
managing relationship quality because of its direct influence on loyalty.
Most fundamentally, the study provides strong evidence that service managers that
ignore relationship quality are vulnerable when service failures do occur. It is
suggested that priority should be given for building strategies based on relationship
quality and satisfaction leveraging these relationships to forestall detrimental
customer reactions. Practitioners should be aware of the danger of ignoring
relationship satisfaction. In order to avoid overestimating how effective their
relationship building efforts have been (Holmlund and Kock, 1996) managers should be
deliberate in seeking relationship quality feedback from clients on an “ongoing effort”
basis, using existing well established scales such as SOCO, SERVQUAL and
SERVPERF as well as more specific scales for measuring trust and commitment.
The findings of the study parallel past findings from research on relationships
between advertising agencies and their clients (Doyle et al., 1980; Mitchell and Sanders,
1995; Dowling, 1994) and recent findings on advertising efficiency (Koschat and Putsis,
2002; Luo and Donthu, 2005) pointing out the importance that agencies should place on
relationships with their clients which are often damaged due to inefficient media
spending and misallocated resources contributing thus to lowering profit margins and
the clients’ ability to sustain growth.
The present study has certain limitations, and caution is therefore advised with
respect to the generalisability of the results. First, the simplicity of some of the
measurements (due to the secondary nature of the data) raises some issues with regard
to the operationalisation of specific constructs. Studies that model attitudinal as well as
behavioural relationship outcomes have strong precedence in the relationship
marketing area. It should be mentioned that even if various authors speak about
attitudinal and behavioural measurements of loyalty, the majority of measurements
are attitudinal. In this study, the “intentions” approach is followed rather than a
behavioural one, as in order to develop true behavioural measurements, real behaviour
measurement of clients was necessary. However, the measurement of the real
behaviour of industrial clients proves to be very difficult from a practical point-of-view.
Even if it is possible to measure “actual” behaviour, researchers are always confronted
with difficulties related to the definition of the loyal client, raising questions concerned
with the link between volume of repeated purchases or time and loyalty attributes.
Secondly, the single-item measurement of satisfaction ignores the existence of
different phases of satisfaction in a relationship continuum and also ignores the
complexity of service offerings. The measurement thus fails to identify the existence of
any turbulent incidents that might dramatically affect the relationship. Finally, the Service quality
survey did not capture the cultural differences existing among business customers
from various societal backgrounds. These cultural differences might lead to different
perceptions of the attributes of trust and commitment.
The results of this study are largely in accord with the authors’ theoretical
expectations. However, further research is needed to extend the present findings. In
particular, despite the importance of business loyalty, measurement instruments of the 859
construct have not flourished in the marketing literature. Scales for both types of
loyalty (repeated purchase and behavioural intentions) exist. However, in most cases,
measurement of loyalty involves isolated measurement of positive word-of-mouth
comments about the company to others (Boulding et al., 1993), recommending the
company/service to others (Parasuraman et al., 1991; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990),
paying a price premium to the company, or remaining loyal to the company (Rust and
Zahorik, 1993). Rarely are these various measurements used in conjunction with one
another.
Any study of service/product quality and relationship satisfaction should take into
account their dynamic nature. For example, it would be extremely interesting to break
down the relationship into chronological parts, and to examine, for each part, the
variations in perceptions of service quality and relationship satisfaction, trust, and
commitment. From a methodological perspective, critical-incident technique (Bitner
et al., 1990, 1994; Johnston, 1995a, b; Kelley et al., 1993) could be applied with success –
thus demonstrating variations in business customer behavioural intentions following
changes in trust and commitment levels. Future research could also focus on samples
consisting of “really” loyal customers participating in customer loyalty programs.
With respect to cultural differences, careful consideration needs to given to recent
findings that cultural values can influence the interpretation of quality and service
attributes, and that these differences can generate different levels of trust and
commitment (Geletkanycz, 1997).
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About the authors

Ruben Chumpitaz Caceres is associate professor and head of the department of marketing at the
IESEG School of Management in the Catholic University of Lille. He received his MBA in 1995
and PhD in 1998, both from the Louvain School of Management, Catholic University of Louvain.
He has published articles in professional journals such as the Managing Service Quality,
International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, European Business Forum,
European Journal of Marketing, Recherche et Application en Marketing. His teaching interests are
in the areas of strategic marketing, marketing research and multivariate statistics. Ruben
Chumpitaz Ćceres is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: r.chumpitaz@ieseg.fr
Nicholas G. Paparoidamis is associate professor of marketing at the IESEG School of
Management in the Catholic University of Lille. He received his MBA in 1997 and PhD in 2001,
both from Cardiff University, in Wales. He has published articles in various journals such as the
International Business Review, Industrial Marketing Management, Managing Service Quality,
Management Decision, and European Journal of Marketing. His teaching interests are in the
areas of strategic marketing, services marketing, sales management, marketing research, and
business-to-business marketing.
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European Journal of Marketing

Service quality, relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment and business-to-business

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increase in customers’ perceptions of service/product quality – specifically in terms of an increase in

Much of the extant literature on assessment of service quality has focused on

The study first conceptualises perceptions of service quality by identifying the

The present study focuses on relationship satisfaction and relationship-satisfaction

decision-making unit (a person or group of persons) with respect to one or more

construct is still considered “unresolved” (Carhuana et al., 2000, p. 57).

“advertising campaign” as the technical-quality dimension of the model being tested.

relationships is a primary determinant of repeated purchasing behaviour. Numerous

The following hypothesis is therefore proposed:

Confirmatory factor analysis

Commercial service (a ¼ 0:8011)

Administrative service (a ¼ 0:8191)

Advertising campaign (a ¼ 0:8059)

Service delivery (a ¼ 0:8460)

Commercial service 0.87 0.574

Communication 0.90 0.82

Advertising campaign 0.91 0.84

Service delivery 0.84 0.73

Trust 0.82 0.70

Commitment 0.93 0.81

Loyalty 0.74 0.60

The results indicate that perceptions of service/product performance can be viewed as

(1) AD RS TR t ¼ 10:187 U t ¼ 7:887 U t AD ¼ 4:015; t RS ¼ 7:887; bAD , b2 U

commitment and loyalty

dimensions and trust,

(1) COM CS RS t ¼ 10:144 t ¼ 4:309 t COM ¼ 20:171; t CS ¼ 10:836; bCOM , b2

Managerial implications – limitations – future research

The International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 170-80.

Christopher, M., Payne, A. and Ballantyne, M. (1991), Relationship Marketing, Heinemann,

Vol. 15, pp. 301-26.

Boston, MA, pp. 233-65.

Shellhase, R., Hardock, P. and Ohlwein, M. (1999), “Customer satisfaction in business-to-business

About the authors

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

5. HuoBaofeng, Baofeng Huo, WangQianwen, Qianwen Wang, ZhaoXiande, Xiande Zhao,

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