IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v18y2011i4p247-258.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Customer intimacy and commitment to relationships with firms in five different sectors: Preliminary evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Bügel, Marnix S.
  • Verhoef, Peter C.
  • Buunk, Abraham P.

Abstract

We examined the role of intimacy in customer relationships. Applying the psychological triangular theory of love, we show that customer-to-firm relationships are characterized by two major dimensions: commitment and customer intimacy. The latter is the mere affective component. Our results subsequently reveal that, overall, only a small proportion of individuals experience their customer relationships as intimate. Only in high-involvement markets (i.e. automotive), there is a substantial group of customers that experiences a high level of customer intimacy. We do, however, show that customer intimacy contributes to the explanation of commitment in customer relationships, beyond traditional variables in the relationship-investment model, such as satisfaction, quality of alternatives and relationship investments. We also illustrate that in order to build commitment, customer intimacy is most important in the early stages and in the last stage of the relationship. It can be concluded that investing in intimate relationships may be a viable strategy in specific phases of the relationship: in the beginning of relationships, to initiate successful relationships, and at the end, to continue relationships in a crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Bügel, Marnix S. & Verhoef, Peter C. & Buunk, Abraham P., 2011. "Customer intimacy and commitment to relationships with firms in five different sectors: Preliminary evidence," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 247-258.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:18:y:2011:i:4:p:247-258
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2010.11.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698910001153
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2010.11.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sunil Gupta & Valarie Zeithaml, 2006. "Customer Metrics and Their Impact on Financial Performance," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 718-739, 11-12.
    2. Aaron C. Ahuvia, 2005. "Beyond the Extended Self: Loved Objects and Consumers' Identity Narratives," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(1), pages 171-184, June.
    3. Leenheer, Jorna & Bijmolt, Tammo H.A., 2008. "Which retailers adopt a loyalty program? An empirical study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 429-442.
    4. Sandy D. Jap & Erin Anderson, 2007. "Testing a Life-Cycle Theory of Cooperative Interorganizational Relationships: Movement Across Stages and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 260-275, February.
    5. Ruth N. Bolton, 1998. "A Dynamic Model of the Duration of the Customer's Relationship with a Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 45-65.
    6. Fournier, Susan, 1998. "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 343-373, March.
    7. Geyskens, I. & Steenkamp, J.E.B.M. & Scheer, L.K. & Kumar, N., 1996. "The effects of trust and interdependence on relationship commitment : A trans-Atlantic study," Other publications TiSEM ef7c8d6c-963d-4ee7-8576-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Verhoef, Peter C. & Lemon, Katherine N. & Parasuraman, A. & Roggeveen, Anne & Tsiros, Michael & Schlesinger, Leonard A., 2009. "Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 31-41.
    9. Roland T. Rust & Peter C. Verhoef, 2005. "Optimizing the Marketing Interventions Mix in Intermediate-Term CRM," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 477-489, December.
    10. Vikas Mittal & Eugene W. Anderson & Akin Sayrak & Pandu Tadikamalla, 2005. "Dual Emphasis and the Long-Term Financial Impact of Customer Satisfaction," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 544-555, August.
    11. Jeffrey J. Hoogland & Anne Boomsma, 1998. "Robustness Studies in Covariance Structure Modeling," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 26(3), pages 329-367, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xisi Yang & Anja Weber & Anna-Katharina Grimm, 2022. "The effects of green consumer empowerment in advertising on corporate evaluations and purchase intention: the case of organic food," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1877-1909, August.
    2. Ciuchita, Robert & Mahr, Dominik & Odekerken-Schröder, Gaby, 2019. "“Deal with it”: How coping with e-service innovation affects the customer experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 130-141.
    3. Katia Laura Sidali & Pascual Yépez Morocho & Edgardo I. Garrido-Pérez, 2016. "Food Tourism in Indigenous Settings as a Strategy of Sustainable Development: The Case of Ilex guayusa Loes. in the Ecuadorian Amazon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-17, September.
    4. (Sandy) Zhang, Sha & van Doorn, Jenny & Leeflang, Peter S.H., 2014. "Does the importance of value, brand and relationship equity for customer loyalty differ between Eastern and Western cultures?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 284-292.
    5. Garrouch, Karim & Ghali, Zohra, 2023. "On linking the perceived values of mobile shopping apps, customer well-being, and customer citizenship behavior: Moderating role of customer intimacy," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Yuan, Chunlin & Zhang, Chenlei & Wang, Shuman, 2022. "Social anxiety as a moderator in consumer willingness to accept AI assistants based on utilitarian and hedonic values," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Roşca Vlad, 2017. "Stop hitting the woodwork! CRM for better fan-identification in Romanian second division football clubs," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 711-719, July.
    8. Hung-Che Wu & Xiaolian Chen & Ya-Yuan Chang, 2021. "Structural relationships between psychosocial risk, relationship quality, need for cognition, and quarantine intentions: the case of the quarantine hotel," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 15(4), pages 587-611, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ming-Hui Huang & Roland T. Rust, 2017. "Technology-driven service strategy," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 906-924, November.
    2. van Everdingen, Yvonne M. & Sloot, Laurens M. & van Nierop, Erjen & Verhoef, Peter C., 2011. "Towards a Further Understanding of the Antecedents of Retailer New Product Adoption," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 579-597.
    3. Polo, Yolanda & Sese, F. Javier & Verhoef, Peter C., 2011. "The Effect of Pricing and Advertising on Customer Retention in a Liberalizing Market," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 201-214.
    4. Andrés Musalem & Yogesh V. Joshi, 2009. "—How Much Should You Invest in Each Customer Relationship? A Competitive Strategic Approach," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 555-565, 05-06.
    5. Abosag, Ibrahim & Baker, Thomas L. & Hall, Kristina Lindsey & Voulgari, Aliki-Dimitra & Zheng, Xiaoyuan, 2017. "Antecedents and consequences of liking in retail service relationships in China and Greece," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 566-578.
    6. Conor M. Henderson & Lena Steinhoff & Colleen M. Harmeling & Robert W. Palmatier, 2021. "Customer inertia marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 350-373, March.
    7. Verhoef, Peter C. & Venkatesan, Rajkumar & McAlister, Leigh & Malthouse, Edward C. & Krafft, Manfred & Ganesan, Shankar, 2010. "CRM in Data-Rich Multichannel Retailing Environments: A Review and Future Research Directions," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 121-137.
    8. Guenther, Miriam & Guenther, Peter, 2021. "The complex firm financial effects of customer satisfaction improvements," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 639-662.
    9. Roland T. Rust & Ming-Hui Huang, 2014. "The Service Revolution and the Transformation of Marketing Science," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 206-221, March.
    10. Ishfaq Ahmed & Waqas Farooq & Tariq Iqbal Khan, 2021. "Customers’ Perceptions and their Responses to Objectives of Islamic Banks – A Three-Wave Investigation," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 11(1), pages 43-56, January.
    11. Mark, Tanya & Lemon, Katherine N. & Vandenbosch, Mark & Bulla, Jan & Maruotti, Antonello, 2013. "Capturing the Evolution of Customer–Firm Relationships: How Customers Become More (or Less) Valuable Over Time," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 231-245.
    12. Robert W. Palmatier & Srinath Gopalakrishna & Mark B. Houston, 2006. "Returns on Business-to-Business Relationship Marketing Investments: Strategies for Leveraging Profits," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 477-493, September.
    13. Oded Netzer & James M. Lattin & V. Srinivasan, 2008. "A Hidden Markov Model of Customer Relationship Dynamics," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 185-204, 03-04.
    14. Debra Grace & Mitchell Ross & Ceridwyn King, 2018. "Brand fidelity: a relationship maintenance perspective," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(6), pages 577-590, November.
    15. Steven M. Shugan, 2006. "Editorial—Are Consumers Rational? Experimental Evidence?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-7, 01-02.
    16. Philipp Afèche & Mojtaba Araghi & Opher Baron, 2017. "Customer Acquisition, Retention, and Service Access Quality: Optimal Advertising, Capacity Level, and Capacity Allocation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 674-691, October.
    17. Blattberg, Robert C. & Malthouse, Edward C. & Neslin, Scott A., 2009. "Customer Lifetime Value: Empirical Generalizations and Some Conceptual Questions," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 157-168.
    18. Mercedes Esteban-Bravo & Jose M. Vidal-Sanz & Gökhan Yildirim, 2014. "Valuing Customer Portfolios with Endogenous Mass and Direct Marketing Interventions Using a Stochastic Dynamic Programming Decomposition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(5), pages 621-640, September.
    19. Ferreira Pedro & Rodrigues Paula & Rodrigues Pedro, 2019. "Brand Love as Mediator of the Brand Experience-Satisfaction-Loyalty Relationship in a Retail Fashion Brand," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 14(3), pages 278-291, September.
    20. Noor Hasmini Binti Abd Ghani & Mohammad Kashedul Wahab Tuhin, 2016. "Consumer Brand Relationships," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 6(4), pages 950-957.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:18:y:2011:i:4:p:247-258. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.