The antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in financial services

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to create a model explaining the antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in financial services context. The model is tested empirically in Turkey with the data obtained through the branches of a medium-sized bank and through a web-based survey designed for the research. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling technique. The findings indicate that salesperson’s characteristics, customer’s characteristics, relationship characteristics and service quality provide a statistically significant capability in predicting both trust and satisfaction constructs. Additionally, the results reveal that dimensions of relationship quality, trust and satisfaction, provide significant statistics in explaining relationship marketing effectiveness. The main contribution of this thesis is the development of an extensive model which aims to outline the antecedents and consequences of relationship quality which is relatively neglected in services literature. The model proposed is unique in the sense that it integrates the literature on relationship quality and provides a basis for a comprehensive understanding of relationship quality with its antecedents and consequences.