An Integrated Customer Relationship Model to Improve Retention in Hospitality Services

Abstract

Customer retention has received ongoing academic focus and scholars have specifically recognized the importance of customer loyalty within the services sector. There is general agreement within this body of work that achieving customer satisfaction alone is not sufficient to develop customer loyalty, particularly in a competitive business environment. Relationship development between businesses and customers is a key contributor to customer loyalty; however, many of the models that are presented within the literature are either product specific or business to business in nature. This chapter presents the results of an examination of a series of relationship development models that was designed to identify the antecedents of relationship development that are likely to have a positive impact on the delivery of hospitality services. We synthesize the key mediating variables of these models into a single customized model that has the capacity to influence relationship development in a hospitality setting. Within this model we emphasize the importance of trust, commitment and cross cultural communication in order to achieve repeat business and to facilitate positive word of mouth communication.