The Impact of Satisfaction , Trust , and Relationship Value on Commitment : Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Results

Commitment is as an essential ingredient for successful long-term relationships. Developing a customer's commitment in business relationships does pay off in increased profits, customer retention, willingness to refer and recommend. Relationship marketing literature suggests customer satisfaction and trust as major determinants of commitment. Recently, practitioners and scholars have identified customer value as a pivotal issue in the management of business relationships. In this article the authors theorize (1) customer satisfaction, (2) customer trust, (3) customer relationship value, and (4) customer commitment as key variables for successful business relationship management. A framework for the interrelationships of these key variables is provided. Drawing upon a database of 230 customer-supplier relationships, this study shows that trust and relationship value are powerful predictors of commitment. The influence of customer satisfaction on commitment is mediated by trust and relationship value. Some theoretical and managerial implications are given. At present researchers as well as practitioners report changes in the nature of industrial customer-supplier relationships. Customers and their suppliers tend to believe that long-term relationships are a decisive source for competitive advantages (e.g. Kalwani & Narayandas 1995, Ganesan 1994). The outcomes for the customer of such long-term orientation, Anderson and Weitz (1992) refer to it as commitment, are improved quality and process performance as well as access to valued resources and technologies. Suppliers benefit from long-term customers through higher repeat sales and cross-selling opportunities as well as new product ideas, information on competitive activities and products. There has been done considerable research in order to illuminate the correlation of social aspects in business relationships such as commitment, satisfaction, long-term orientation, dependence and trust (e.g. Anderson & Narus 1990, Dwyer, Schurr & Oh 1987, Garbarino & Johnson 1999, Morgan & Hunt 1994). Recently, relationship value has become a matter of interest in relationship marketing (e.g. Ravald & Grönroos 1996, Lapierre 1998). Even so, researchers have not discussed the relationship value concept in the context with other social aspects of business relationships so far. In this article we provide definitions of the four major theoretical constructs in a business-tobusiness relationship context we used in our framework and study. Second, we present the theoretical framework with hypotheses between customer commitment, trust, customer satisfaction and customer relationship value. Researchers have investigated the antecedents of commitment before, but we provide for the first time a framework including relationship value in this context. For example, the study indicates that relationship value has pivotal influence on the development of an industrial customer’s commitment towards a relationship with a supplier. Third, we explain method and outcomes of our empirical investigation. Relationship value is a rather new area of relationship marketing research. At the end of this article we discuss limitations of our study as well as theoretical and managerial implications in this field. I Theoretical Constructs The specification and identification of social aspects in business relationships has made a great leap forward during the past decade. Customer satisfaction, as well as trust and commitment have become focal constructs in relationship marketing research (e.g. Doney & Cannon 1997, Garbarino & Johnson 1999, Morgan & Hunt 1994, Moorman, Zaltman, & Despandé 1992). More recently, researchers have started to theorize about value concepts in the context of business relationships (e.g. Grönroos 1997, Flint, Woodruff & Fisher 1997, Ravald & Grönroos 1996). Considering theory as well as practice in relationship management, we found satisfaction, trust, value and commitment to represent the most important aspects of business relationships. In Figure 1 we provide a graphic overview of the theoretical framework on which we based our empirical study. Figure 1. Theoretical framework Customer Commitment In relationship marketing literature, commitment has widely been acknowledged to be an integral part of any long-term business relationship (cf. Anderson & Weitz 1992, Gundlach, Achrol & Mentzer 1995, Morgan & Hunt 1994). In most cases it is described as a kind of lasting intention to build and maintain a long-term relationship (e.g. Anderson & Weitz 1992, Dwyer, Schurr & Oh 1987, Moorman, Zaltman & Despandé 1992). Customer Satisfaction Customer