Role of Gratitude and Obligation in Business Relationships

Abstract

Marketers build customer relationship through various relationship marketing (RM) investments (Berry, 1994). These investments impact customers in terms of their loyalty and customer purchase intentions (Hsu, 2007; Yuping and Yang, 2009). Literature suggests that impact of these relationship investments may be positive (De Wulf, 2001), ambiguous (Colgate and Danaher, 2001) or negative (Hibbard, 2001). Recent insights from research have also indicated that gratitude and obligation are central in development and sustenance of relationships. (Palmatier, 2009, Tsang, 2007). To understand the impact of these relationship investments on business relationships, the present study examines 1) how various relationship investments (e.g. financial, social and structural (Berry, 1994)) affect customer gratitude and customer obligation and 2) how customer gratitude and customer obligation further affect relationship output variables such as customer purchase intentions and attitudinal loyalty.

Data were collected through a survey of customers at grocery and cloth stores after they had completed their buying. Shop-keepers (in traditional format stores and modern format stores (shopping mall)) were also intimated about the survey. The study was conducted in Ahmedabad and Jaipur city. Multistage systematic random sampling technique was used for data collection. 398 data points were collected from both the cities; 254 from Ahmedabad and 144 from Jaipur.

Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used for the analysis with ‘customer loyalty’ and ‘customer purchase intentions’ as dependent variables, gratitude and obligation as mediating variables and financial, social and structural RM investments as independent variables in the study. The study found that, social and structural RM investments resulted in gratitude, which in turn resulted in immediate purchase intentions of the customers as well as customer loyalty. Financial RM investments resulted in obligation, which in turn resulted in purchase intentions of the customers, but it related negatively to customer-loyalty. The findings further suggest that, people in initial phase of relationships (i.e. initiation phase or growth phase) realized more gratitude and obligation for a given relationship investments as compared to people in later stage of relationships.

The study explains for differential outcomes of various RM investments on gratitude and obligation, and to customer purchase intentions and customer loyalty. The explanation of mediating role of gratitude and obligation in business relationships contributes to the theory of relationship marketing. For marketing managers and retailers, the study provides the basis for making investments in relationship activities for managing customers.