Relationship Quality of an Establishment and Perceived Value of a Purchase

Abstract

Relationship quality is an emerging concept that attempts to measure the lifetime value of a customer. A review of the literature reveals that the indicators that determine the construct are satisfaction with the relationship, the customer's trust and the customer's level of commitment. The paper also considers how the perceived value of a purchase influences the quality of the relationship with an establishment, i.e. how a single transaction influences the valuation of a whole relationship. Gummeson [1987] considers that the quality of the relationship is the value accumulated during/throughout the relationship. This posits the existence of a causal link between perceived value and relationship quality. On the basis of an Expectancy–Value Model [Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975], and the model of Berkowitz [1993], we consider the relationships among the variables of the model. The results show that affect plays a fundamental role in long term valuation, while cognition is more influential in the short term. Another important conclusion is that the affective valuations made during the first moments have decisive consequences in the long term.