Abstract
Relationship marketing evolves both in quantity and quality, as we can tell from the continuous incorporation of new constructs, models and technologies, the myriad of applications in different contexts, and the interaction with other marketing and management areas. Concepts and processes in relationship marketing continue to mature significantly with the help of developments made in other research fronts. In this sense, the concept of value as communicated by authors in the field (e.g., Hogan, 2001; Möller & Törrönen, 2003) brought light to the problem of relationship assessment, if we agree that value creation is critical for companies working together in a business relationship (Walter et al., 2001); thus, value creation must be the starting point for companies and customers to assess their relationships.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Supplier Perspective: The supplier’s perception about the tangible and intangible costs and benefits from the particular relationship with a customer.
Dyad Perspective: The outcome of a particular function that takes as input the customer’s perspective and the supplier’s perspective. In other words, the value created jointly by customers and suppliers embedded in cooperative business relationships.
Benefit: The degree to which some organizational asset improves.
Cost: The degree to which some organizational asset deteriorates.
Relationship Marketing: Research field dealing with the relationships between suppliers and customers according to such diverse perspectives as those of the economy, the psychology, and the sociology. It prioritizes relational, long-term exchanges, instead of transactional, short-term exchanges.
Customer Perspective: The customer’s perception about the tangible and intangible costs and benefits from the particular relationship with a supplier.
Value: The trade-off between benefits and costs.
Relationship Value: See “Dyad Perspective.”
Business Relationships: Persistent interactions between a supplier and a customer for effecting business transactions.
Mutual Value: See “Dyad Perspective.”