Defining relationship quality for customer‐driven business development: A housing‐mortgage company case

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to compare the company's perception of their business to the customers' dynamic view of their relationships with the same company.

Design/methodology/approach

Customers are interviewed about their perceptions of the relationships. The interviews are analyzed by using SPAT (switching path analysis technique) that divides the relationships into different parts with priority to their relevance for the strength of the relationships.

Findings

Customers who experience triggers in their relationships evaluate their mortgage provider differently than those who do not. The construct that influences the dynamism and the differing evaluations is defined as the trigger function. Three trigger categories are identified and described: the situational, the influential, and the reactional. In order to further verify the dynamic aspect of the customer relationship, evidence of customers' dynamic evaluations and of how the company's own perceptions of the business differ from those of its customers is provided.

Research limitations/implications

Regarding the generalization of the results for services the findings are limited to one industry; the financial.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the understanding of the dynamism in the customer relationships of a housing‐mortgage company.

Citation

Roos, I., Gustafsson, A. and Edvardsson, B. (2006), "Defining relationship quality for customer‐driven business development: A housing‐mortgage company case", International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 207-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564230610657006