Customers’ perspectives on service quality and relationship quality in retail encounters

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between service quality and overall relationship quality on two levels of retail relationships (employee and company level). Responses were received from 1,261 shoppers in a retail chain departmental store setting in Victoria, Australia. Findings indicate that there is a positive and direct relationship between service quality and relationship quality. The results show that empathy is the most significant contributor to relationship quality at both the employee and company levels. Implications for the management of customer relationships are discussed, while limitations and future research directions are proposed.