Structural equation test of relationship quality

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how companies can influence customers’ repurchase intention and willingness to recommend through relationship quality (RQ hereafter) constructs by leveraging customer orientation, expertise and information sharing. Design/methodology/approach – The research informants were recruited from a Southeastern Nigerian city. Data analysis was based on 303 qualified cases extracted from the 332 valid responses retrieved from the customers of retail banking services through a bank-intercept method and online survey. Findings – Except customer orientation, all the antecedents of RQ were directly related to trust and satisfaction. Whereas satisfaction was both directly and indirectly related to repurchase intention and willingness to recommend, trust was directly and indirectly related to repurchase intention but was not directly related to willingness to recommend. It was only indirectly related to willingness to recommend through satisfaction and repurchase intention. Trust and satisfaction mediate the link between RQ antecedents and repurchase intention and willingness to recommend. The research model explained 67 per cent of the total variance in willingness to recommend. Research limitations/implications – The mediating role of RQ in the link between customer orientation, expertise and information sharing and repurchase intention and willingness to recommend remains largely untested in the literature. This provides an avenue for future studies to extend RQ research to the nature of the construct’s behaviour when it is tested as a mediator in the relationship between its antecedents and consequences especially in West Africa where substantive research is scarce. Practical implications – One of the key measures that retail banks can use to keep customers’ patronage and spur them into making business referrals is to build trust and deliver pleasurable satisfaction by leveraging customer orientation, expertise and information sharing. Originality/value – As far as could be established, this paper represents the first attempt to simultaneously explore the indirect effects of customer orientation, expertise and information sharing on repurchase intention and willingness to recommend through the constructs of RQ. The paper further demonstrates that the relationships estimated within the model are not moderated by gender and occupation differences.

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