Relationship intention and service quality as combined competitive strategy

Abstract

Offering superior service quality or building long-term customer relationships could offer effective strategies to create a competitive advantage. However, since not all customers desire to enter into relationships with service providers, it may be more profitable to focus relationship marketing strategies on customers with relationship intentions. The purpose of this study was to establish whether there is a relationship between relationship intention and service quality, as combining these approaches could result in formulating a greater competitive strategy than using either one of these strategies in isolation. Data were collected from 368 South African respondents. The results indicated positive relationships between respondents' relationship intentions and service quality expectations and perceptions. It was also established that respondents with moderate and low relationship intentions were significantly less satisfied with the service levels they receive compared with their expectations, whereas no difference was found for those with higher relationship intentions.