The Impact of Relationship Marketing and Service Quality on Customer Loyalty and Trust: A Case Study of Ethiopian Airlines
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Date
2014-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to examine the impact of relationship marketing dimensions (trust, commitment, communication and conflict handling) on customer loyalty and also to examine the effect of service quality factors (functional and technical quality) on one of the RM dimension i.e trust. The researcher employed a questionnaire adopted from previous studies and relevant literature. Multiple regression analysis assessed the impact on customer loyalty of four key constructs of relationship marketing and the impact of service quality factors (technical and functional quality) on trust. The researcher gathers data from 269 respondents from different ticket offices especially at Hilton hotel and cafes inside the terminal; the sampling method applied was convenient sampling. The data analysis was conducted through statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations and multiple linear regressions by using SPSS. The four variables namely commitment, conflict handling, trust and communication aggregately explained or affect 43% of variance on customer loyalty in descending order. Moreover, they are significantly related to one another and contribute differentially to customer loyalty. Only Communication has insignificantly predicted customer loyalty. Both technical and functional service quality have significant and positive influence on trustworthiness of an airline. Commitment is the most important predictor of customer loyalty followed by conflict handling and trust. This shows that an airline have to be committed enough to have customer loyalty and also need to focus it on its core services to gain its customer trust. It is reasonable to conclude, on this evidence, that customer loyalty can be created, reinforced and retained by marketing plans aimed at building trust, demonstrating commitment to service, communicating with customers in a timely, reliable and proactive fashion, and handling conflict efficiently. This study may be affected by a limitation because it couldn’t involve PAXs of other airlines; however the model allows the study to be a base for future research
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Relationship Marketing, Customer Loyalty, Trust