A three‐stage model of consumer relationship investment
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421111107987 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| Pages | 14-26 |
| Author | Jeff Hess,John Story,Jeffrey Danes |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
A three-stage model of consumer relationship
investment
Jeff Hess
California Polytechnic State University, Orfalea College of Business, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
John Story
The University of St Thomas, Cameron School of Business, Houston, Texas, USA, and
Jeffrey Danes
California Polytechnic State University, Orfalea College of Business, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the sources of consumer-brand relationship investment, specifically isolating the sources and outcomes of
communality and exchange relationship characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes a survey-based empirical study and subsequent structural modeling approach to test a series of
hypotheses concerning how brand performance perceptions influence the development of consumer relationship connections.
Findings – The paper finds that perceptions of product performance and service quality influence the development of brand reliability and brand
fidelity respectively. Similarly, brand reliability is the primary source of an exchange orientation, while brand fidelity leads to communal brand
connections and, ultimately, consumer-brand relationship investment.
Research limitations/implications – This research is limited by the scope of the sample, fast food restaurants. Future research should explore
consumer relationship investment in other product and service categories in order to determine the extent to which relationship development processes
vary by product category.
Practical implications – Brands that wish to develop enduring relationships with their customers must understand the relative impact of both
personal and functional (exchange) relationship characteristics on the development of relationship investment. Each has a specific role to play and the
roles of each vary at different relationship stages.
Originality/value – This research offers at least three significant contributions to the marketing discipline and marketing practice. First, it introduces
constructs and associated scales for brand fidelity, communality,exchange and relationship investment. Second, it demonstrates how brand service and
product performance differentially contribute to two dimensions of consumer-brand relationships. Finally, it describes three discrete relationship
development stages that play specific roles in the evolution of consumer-brand relationship investment.
Keywords Customer relations, Brands, Trust, Relationship marketing
Paper type Research paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
1. Introduction
The relationship you have with your car isn’t so different from your other
relationships. Some burn hot, but don’t last very long. Some burn for a
while, but don’t throw much heat. And some smolder beautifully for a long,
long time (2009 Cadillac CTS advertisement).
It has been nearly two decades since Webster (1992), Kotler
(1991) and others predicted a paradigmatic transformation in
marketing, from a transactional orientation to one in which
firms endeavor to build enduring relationships with their
customers. In that time, marketing practitioners and
academics have converged on the conclusion that customer
relationships are essential to long-term business success
(Gronroos, 1997; Gummeson, 2002). There is wide
acceptance that committed business customers and
consumers are more profitable, more loyal and are even
effective ambassadors for the brand. As a result, consumer
marketers have shifted resources toward building long-term
bonds in order to redeem the financial benefits offered by
customers who seek relationship benefits (Blackston, 1993;
Brakus et al., 2009; Chamberlin, 2002; Dinnie, 2001).
However, despite wide acceptance that long-term consumer-
brand relationships represent a better return on investment
than transactional satisfaction, there remains a range of
theoretical approaches to:
.how key relational constructs are defined;
.the structural associations among constructs;
.the role of relationship antecedents; and
.the nature of customer behavioral outcomes, including
brand loyalty (Bowden, 2009).
The nomenclature of consumer relationships, namely trust
and commitment, is fairly well established in marketing
relationship literature, but these basic ideas offer multiple
approaches to relationship development structures. Most
relationship marketing articles rely on the fundamental trust-
commitment structure developed among personal
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
20/1 (2011) 14–26
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/10610421111107987]
14
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