Le Prospettive Teoriche Nell’analisi delle Relazioni di Fedeltà dei Clienti (Customer Loyalty: A Literature Review)
Faraci, R., Galvagno M. & S.C.Giaccone (eds.), La fedeltà Nelle Relazioni tra Impresa e Mercato. Fondamenti Concettuali ed Implicazioni Manageriali, G. Giappichelli, Torino, 2007
44 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2012 Last revised: 24 Nov 2012
Date Written: 2007
Abstract
Loyalty relations are not the only type of relationships between business and customer instaurabile, nevertheless it is believed that they are among those able to provide superior performance and lasting company that manufactures. The attention placed on customer relationships has different origins. It is largely based on considerations related to the development of forms of competition between networks of firms (Hunt et al., 2006), and is attributable to a number of factors that can be summarized as follows (Valdani, 1997, 2000; Lanza, 1998, 2000; Costabile, 2001; Castaldo, 2002; Grandinetti, 1995, 2003, Stock and Mulki, 2003, Raymond, 2004): - the gradual loss of importance of intermediaries in the process of value creation (so-called disintermediation); - the development and use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT); - the development of the the service economy; - the great attention paid to total quality; - the growing concern on the part of sellers to retain existing customers, rather than seek new ones; - the change in the patterns of behavior of buyers.
Building long-term relationships with customers and other market participants, then, is one of the main objectives of the business. We refer, in this case, to the effort to implement a relational orientation to the market, which consists in the creation and maintenance of relations not only with customers, but also with other stakeholders and the involvement of all business functions in the process of value creation.
In this chapter we make a review of the relevant literature on the subject of B2C loyalty relationships from the point of view of relationship marketing.
Note: Downloadable document is in Italian.
Keywords: trust, commitment, satisfaction, loyalty
JEL Classification: M31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation