Relationship quality evaluation in retailers' relationships with consumers

The purpose of the article is to investigate relationship quality in retail relationships as influenced by its antecedents (loyalty programme quality and personal interaction quality) and resulting in customer loyalty to the retailer. The focus is on loyalty programme members' perceptions and differences between segments of consumers with different levels of involvement in the product category.

The method used was a consumer survey. Two waves of cross‐sectional telephone interviewing with 116 and 410 members of a retail loyalty club were conducted. Structural equation modelling served for the estimation of relationships in an integrated conceptual framework among constructs of loyalty programme quality, personal interaction quality, relationship quality and loyalty, relevant to the development of retail relationships.

The findings suggest that loyalty programme quality is important for relationship quality; however, efforts to assure personal interaction quality with customers are needed to improve relationship quality as well as customer loyalty. The study deepens knowledge of relationship quality's antecedents and consequences in the retail environment with regard to segments of customers with different levels of product category involvement.

The research is limited to members of a selected DIY retailer's loyalty programme, not accounting specifically for membership in multiple loyalty programmes. Future research could use different methodologies such as longitudinal studies to examine dynamic relationships among the constructs in the study.

In the retail context, practical implications of the impact of loyalty programme quality and of personal interaction quality on relationship quality and customer loyalty are considered.

The paper contributes to the understanding of members' perceptions and responses to relationship quality as well as to some mechanisms underlying customer loyalty in loyalty programmes.