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Relationship marketing has taken on a significant role in both marketing practice and academic study (Adjei, Griffith, & Noble, 2009). Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh’s (1987) seminal article on relationships marked the new era of relationship marketing (Palmatier, Dant, Grewal, & Evans, 2006). Since then, numerous studies on relationship marketing and customer relationship management have been published, and various strategies of building and developing long-term customer-firm relationships have been introduced in relationship marketing (e.g., Musalem & Joshi, 2009; Reinartz & Kumar, 2000; Rigby et al., 2002; Winer, 2001). The results of prior research have shown that long-term relationships with customers help firms gain financial success and a competitive edge (e.g., Bhattacharya & Sen, 2003; Berry, Carbone, & Haeckel, 2002; Liu & Yang, 2009; Reinartz, Krafft, & Hoyer, 2004; Thomas, Blattberg, & Fox, 2004; Venkatesan & Kumar, 2004).
Generation cohort represents a subculture that reflects a distinctive set of values, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors (Dou, Wang, & Zhou, 2006; Egri & Ralston, 2004; Lester, Forman, & Loyd, 2005; Wei, 1997). Generation subculture theory suggests that social, political, and economic factors have a distinct impact on every generation resulting in a generational identity that remains relatively stable throughout a generation’s lifetime (Inglehart, 1997, Strauss & Howe, 1991; Yang, Zhou, & Chen, 2005). Thus, a study of generation subcultures can help businesses better understand the nature of culture change that has taken place in a country and consumer behaviour of that generation.
Generation cohorts have attracted a great deal of research in Western countries (e.g., Lester, Forman, & Loyd, 2005; Strauss & Howe, 1991; Thau & Heflin, 1997), but there is little research on the characteristics of generation cohorts in China (McEwen, 2005; Ralston et al., 1999). Further, previous research based on generational cohort theory suggests that generational differences in values, attitudes, and lifestyles are always more significant in those countries where rapid economic development is bringing great changes to the life of individuals (Abramson & Inglehart, 1995; McEwen et al., 2006). For example, a study of advertising attitudes of generation X consumers in China indicated that there had been a great change in the lifestyle of this segment (Wei, 1997). Dou, Wang, and Zhou (2006) investigated the media program preferences of the same generation in China and found that the cohort consumers, compared with their preceding generational cohorts, tend to pay more attention to entertainment-based media programs such as television drama series and radio pop music, and shun information-based topics such as news or business reports.