In contexts where relationships between customers and sellers matter, relationship quality (RQ) is replacing service quality and/or customer satisfaction as a key source of superior performance and competitive advantage. In spite of a growing body of research on RQ, there continues to be a high degree of ambiguity about its nature, determinants, and dimensions. Based on a review of the research on RQ, this paper provides a systematisation of our current knowledge on RQ and offers suggestions for future research. Specifically, it reviews and synthesises existing research on RQ and argues for a framework in which trust, satisfaction, and commitment are the three key dimensions of RQ, while mutual goals, communication, domain expertise, and relational value should be seen as core determinants which, in future models, may be augmented by context specific influences.
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