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Relationship marketing research (1983-2012): an academic review and

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Int. J. Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2014 221

Relationship marketing research (1983–2012):

an academic review and classification

Brijesh Kumar Yadav* and Abhijeet Singh

Faculty of Management Studies,
Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi 221001, Uttar Pradesh, India
Email: Brijesh.bhu01@gmail.com
Email: abhijeetnil@gmail.com
*Corresponding author

Abstract: The term Relationship Marketing (RM) was first coined by Berry
in 1983, he stressed upon developing close and long-term relationship
with customers. Further the literature enriched by scholars in the area of
relationship marketing, have one common base of cooperative relationship
between customers and firm. This paper attempts to create the much broader
classification of RM to provide an insight into RM literature. The present work
not only identifies the key indicators in RM but also postulates valuable
contributions of conceptual framework for RM over the time horizon since
1983. For the above purpose, seven online databases were searched on RM
literature. The study extracted an exhaustive list of literatures on several
dimensions and conceptual framework which would be ultimately facilitating
the academicians, researchers and industry practitioners in identifying existing
studies on relationship marketing. So that scholars can move ahead by
extracting new dimensions of relationship marketing on this bibliographic
study.

Keywords: relationship marketing; customer relations; literature; online

database.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Yadav, B.K. and Singh, A.
(2014) ‘Relationship marketing research (1983–2012): an academic review and
classification’, Int. J. Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Vol. 8,
No. 4, pp.221–250.

Biographical notes: Brijesh Kumar Yadav holds MBA in marketing from

UPTU, Lucknow. He has research papers and articles published in reputed
journals and magazines. He is a regular participant in national and international
conferences, seminars and workshops and has presented a number of papers.
He has submitted PhD in customer relationship management from FMS, BHU.

Abhijeet Singh has an academic background of BTech in Mechanical

Engineering and MTech in Industrial System Engineering. He is also an MBA
with specialisation in Marketing. He obtained PhD in the area of Supply Chain
Management. In an academic career spanning over ten years he has contributed
to the areas of marketing and operations and production management
through over 20 publications in research journals and books of national and
international repute. He is also a reviewer to Elsevier group of journals. He has
organised or chaired sessions in various national and international conferences,
seminars, workshops and AICTE sponsored quality improvement programmes.

Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

222 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

This paper is revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Relationship

marketing research (1983–2012): an academic review and classification’
presented at the ‘2nd International Marketing Conference MARCON 2012’,
Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, India, 28–30 December 2012.

1 Introduction

The term Relationship Marketing (RM) was first coined by Berry in 1983, he stressed
upon developing close and long-term relationship with customers and defined RM
as attracting, maintaining and – in multi-service organisation – enhancing customer
relationship. Dwyer et al. (1987) have advocated to create cooperative relationship for
long-term viability. Further, scholars have discussed on emotional bond between service
provider and service user for maintaining a creative relationship (Crosby and Stephens,
1987; Crosby et al., 1990). Grönroos (1990) on the other hand, said that relationship with
customers should be profit oriented so that objectives of both parties must be satisfying.
This may be achieved by mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises. Shani and
Chalasani (1991) defined RM as an integrated effort to identify and maintain by building
up a network with individual consumers and continuously focusing on strengthening
network for the benefits of both the parties.
Morgan and Hunt (1994) defined RM as all marketing activities directed toward
establishing, developing and maintaining successful relationship. Peppers and Rogers
(1993) put emphasis on extensive use of information technology for one to one marketing
and advocated to grab share of customers rather than share of market.
Literatures on RM and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) have one
common phenomenon, which is cooperative relationship between customers and firm.
Relationship marketing and customer relationship management have not been separated
by scholars in marketing literature (Parvatiyar and Seth, 2000; Parvatiyar and Seth,
2002). Whereas Sin et al. (2005) have identified differences between relationship
marketing and customer relationship management. They said, relationship marketing is
strategic, emotional, behavioural and put emphasis on maintaining relationship with
Stakeholders, while customer relationship management is tactical, Managerial and put
emphasis on maintaining relationship with key customers only. Seth and Parvatiyar
(1995) defined CRM as a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining and
partnering with selective customers to create superior value for them. RM and CRM have
been used interchangeably in this work.
In continuation, RM have been studied on the basis of several other dimensions such
as commitment, loyalty, trust, customer orientation, organisation of business performance,
database marketing, information system, strategic relationship, customer equity, value
creation, quality drivers, customer retention, etc. (Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Szmigin and
Broune, 1998; Verhoef, 2003; O’Leary et al., 2004; Reinartz et al., 2004; Gustafsson
et al., 2005; Ryals, 2006; Wetsch, 2008). The aspect of information technology in RM
Literature, depicts a competitive advantage; an integrated electronic relationship
environment for entire organisation which ensures the rate of success of relationship
marketing (Bose, 2002; Xu et al., 2002; Fjermestad, and Romano, 2003; Luck and
Lancaster, 2003). The dimensions for implementing relationship marketing have been
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 223

studied by various scholars. Being most of the relationship marketing initiative gets
failed; there study is based on the success of relationship marketing implementation.
(Lindgreen and Crawford, 1999; Lindgreen, 2004; Shum et al., 2008).
Studies conducted for RM shows that researchers have not arrived at a common
consensus for defining relationship marketing. Several studies have been conducted for
classification of literature on RM with different dimensions and time framework. Ngai
(2005) reviewed RM literature during 1992–2002; he identified five broader category and
34 sub-categories, Whereas Kevork and Vrechopoulos (2009) conducted Keyword
Analysis to classify the relationship marketing literature for the period of 2000–2006.
Das (2009) in another study reviewed and classified RM literature for the period of
1994–2006. He classified literature on five mutual dimension of CRM. Awasthi and
Sangle (2012) have classified RM Literature from 2006–2010 on multi channel CRM
environment.
Agariya and Singh (2011) have also reviewed RM literature and their work is based
on defining RM and identifying its several constructs only. Ngai et al. (2009) again
classified RM literature on data mining dimension. Yet none of the study has classified
RM literature for the period of 1983–2012. Thus, this paper fills this gap.
On the other hand most of the studies have been concentrating on limited dimensions
such as multichannel environment or data mining. As of now, RM literature lacks a
research on a comprehensive classification of literature which can be generalised over
entire Knowledge domain. This paper is an attempt to present the broader classification
of RM to provide an insight into RM literature. The present work not only identifies the
key indicators in RM but also postulates valuable contributions of conceptual framework
for RM over the time horizon since 1983.

2 Research methodology

Seven online databases were searched on RM literature. The online databases considered
for the study are: Emerald, Taylor and Francis, Science Direct, JSTOR, Springer, Sage
HSS Online, Wily-Blackwell. 900 articles/research papers were identified and reviewed.
558 were identified relevant to RM literature through extensive content analysis. Entire
selected articles were analysed by abstract and keyword. Further full text review was also
conducted. Review process was conducted by authors followed by another researcher to
avoid any discrepancy. Doctoral thesis, book chapters, conference proceedings were
excluded while research papers and articles from journals were considered for the study.

3 Results

The review process of RM literature was classified on the basis of the thought of several
prominent scholars. Parvatiyar and Seth (2002) said that CRM is a strategy and a process
of acquiring, retaining and partnering with selective customers. It involves integration of
marketing, sales, customer services and supply chain functions of organisation to achieve
greater efficiency and effectiveness in delivering customer value.
Most of relationship marketing literature points out that RM is a process, which
consist of identifying potential customers to establish relationship with them and
maintaining the relationship for a long time (Seth and Parvatiyar, 1995; Grönroos, 2004).
224 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Grönroos (2004) has identified communication, Interaction and value required for the
process of relationship marketing. Peelen et al. (2009) have described the components of
relationship marketing such as vision, strategy, value, customer experience, organisational
collaboration, processes, technology, information and matrix. Peelen et al. (2009)
described that the top management of the organisation has commitment towards customer
centricity which may proved as a path to attain a successful business vision. Vision of
any business organisation portrays the long-term planning that it wishes to derive from
relationship marketing.
RM strategy is the way through which an organisation will achieve its vision in
future. Only a sound strategy of the organisation can enable it to achieve relationship
marketing vision. RM processes are the controlled activity throughout the customer
lifecycle (Peelen et al., 2009). RM processes includes each action which has been
undertaken by the business organisation at different stages of customer life cycle such as
attraction, retention measures, etc. On the other hand, all those functional activities
performed by a business organisation such as supply chain management, marketing,
sales, customer services, etc., are RM activities. This also supports relationship
marketing vision of the organisation. Classification of literature conducted is based on
the dimensions discussed above and other literatures. Following is the framework for
classifying RM literature.

Figure 1 Model for classifying RM literature (see online version for colours)

Literatures were searched by keyword relationship marketing and customer relationship

management from online Databases. Nine hundred articles were identified out which 558
articles were found suitable for the purpose of our study. The extractions of relevant
articles considered for the study were mainly separated on the basis of research papers
which were based on relationship marketing theme. Finally, literatures were classified on
the basis of the following dimensions that are relationship marketing vision, strategy,
relationship processes, technology and activities (Figure 1 and Table 1).
Initially, RM has been defined by scholars in terms of its vision, strategy, technology,
process and activity. The basis of classifying RM literature is justified as the literature
focuses on organisational vision and strategy that is customer centric and utilising
relationship marketing as a functional area to fulfil customer centric organisational vision
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 225

and strategy. Besides the model presented above for the purpose of classifying the RM
literature, several constructs of RM such as trust, commitment, loyalty, performance,
database marketing, analytical marketing, relationship quality, quality, electronic
relationship marketing, knowledge management, value, communication, market
orientation, customer orientation, etc., have been identified (Table 2). Growing number
of research are registered in relationship performance, electronic relationship marketing,
database marketing. We observed lots of research on database marketing using
information technology tools in measuring effectiveness of organisation. As we are
aware about the importance of technology in business, it plays a pivotal role in gaining
customer knowledge and in fact knowledge management is incomplete without
technology. There were lots of research papers devoted on measuring performance of
relationship marketing in business. Customer orientation, service quality, value, market
orientation, price, loyalty, technology, management commitment have been used to test
the impact of relationship marketing on performance. Various research papers have also
been devoted on measuring performance in terms of management commitment, employee
perception, etc. Issues of RM implementation have also been considered by the
researchers as most of the RM implementation projects fail. Researchers have
investigated reasons for failure in RM implementation of various organisations. 558
research papers were categorised based on time framework divided into six equal time
period of five years each:
1 Period 1983–1987.
2 Period 1988–1992.
3 Period 1993–1997.
4 Period 1998–2002.
5 Period 2003–2007.
6 Period 2008–2012.

4 Trends of RM and research agenda in each dimension

4.1 RM vision
Organisational vision regarding customer relationship management reflects in its
future position in long run to have mutual beneficial buyer seller relationship. It is
important to visualise its vision related to RM. Mutual profitable buyer and seller
relationship has a fundamental prerequisite for strategic CRM advantage (Payne and
Frow, 2005). CRM vision comprises top management commitment, customer centricity,
customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, etc., for a successful attainment of relationship
marketing goals.
RM vision helps in shaping an appropriate standard of behaviour in employees of the
organisation. It conveys the real identity of RM throughout the organisation. Vision
communicates the ways and means of practicing CRM in the organisation (Grönroos,
1997; Payne and Frow, 2005). In the model which classifies RM literature, RM vision is
the first component which gives direction to entire organisation for stable functioning of
relationship marketing programme.
226 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

4.2 RM strategy
RM strategy is the determination of courses of action and the allocation of resources
necessary to achieve RM vision. RM vision will have no impact on relationship
marketing programme without proper CRM strategy. There are various courses of actions
that can be adopted by the organisation as part of its CRM strategy such as relationship
quality, service quality, communication, innovation, etc. The basic objective is to have
large number of satisfied customer and CRM strategy aims to optimise the value of
relationship with existing customer base. It gives direction to employees of various
departments to work together to enhance profitable relationship by increasing retention,
satisfaction and loyalty. Customer orientation, top management support, employee
orientation, relationship motivated customer are some of the strategic initiatives in
relationship marketing (Dwyer et al., 1987; Beatty et al., 1996).

4.3 RM technology
Most of the time, RM is understood as technology solutions for customer relationship.
Many organisations use CRM as part of their automation in sales, service and customer
support programme.
RM may be regarded as a set of technological and organisational mechanisms
intended to buffer market instability through better knowledge of environmental
variables particularly market variables, in order to anticipate customers' needs, rendering
production activities more stable and programmable (Rajóla, 2003). CRM technology
can deliver information that enhance in prospecting, communication, sales and
analysing customers. It improves sustainable and profitable customer relationship. CRM
technology integrates the customer relationship strategies with information technology,
methodologies, tools, organisational infrastructure to boost relational performance for
maintaining long-term relationship.

4.4 RM processes
Process is the logical sequence of performing any activity. CRM processes consist phases
of customer interactions and experiences in logical sequences of activities. Activities
such as inquiry, negotiation, finalising a sales call, delivery processes, after sale services
has a potential where customers may have some problems which could be converted into
dissatisfaction. CRM processes need to analyse the customer life cycle and related
sequence of activities (Peelen et al., 2009). CRM processes must have a mechanism to
address the interrelated sequence and complaint handling mechanism.

4.5 RM activities
The objective of CRM is to improve the marketing performance of the business. It’s a
comprehensive strategy for creating superior value for company and customers. CRM
has to integrate several activities such as sales, marketing strategy, supply chain
management, value chain, customer service, innovation capabilities, etc., for improving
marketing productivity (Seth and Parvatiyar, 1995). Companies have to integrate their
activities to expand their operations also. Literature were identified and classified based
on the agenda of five dimensions discussed above. The flow of knowledge development
is presented in Figure 2.
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 227

Figure 2 The flow of knowledge development of RM

Relationship Marketing

Vision Strategy Process Techno logy Activity

Top Relat ionship Inqui ri ng E-RM Sales and

management quality marketing
commitment Negoti ation Technological
Servi ce quality i nfrastructure Supply chain
Customer Post sales management
centricity Com muni cation servi ces Methodologies
Valu e chain
Customer Inn ovati on
retention Inn ovation
capabi liti es
Customer
satisfaction

Based on model, trends and flow of knowledge of dimensions discussed above,

classification of literature is given in Table 1.
Table 1 Classification of RM literature based on model

Berry (1983); Levitt (1983); Yim et al. (2004); Grönroos (1990);

Grönroos(2009); Boulding et al. (2005); Plouffe et al. (2004); Gummesson
(1990); Galbreath and Tom Rogers (2010); Law et al. (2003); Turnbull and
Wilson (1989); Ramaseshan et al. (2007); Zolkiewski et al. (2008);
Grönroos (1997); Kandampully and Duddy (1999); Seth (2002); Rao and
RM vision Perry (2002); Vogt (2011); Tomosiuniene and Josiliomiene (2007); Jain
(2005); Meyer and Kolbe (2005); Zinkhan (2001); Gericke and Bucher
(2010); Reinartz and Venkateshan (2008); Boulding et al. (2005);
Bhattacharya and Sen (2003); Morgan and Hunt (1994); Berry (1995); Seth
et al. (2000); Lindgreen et al. (2006); Murphy et al. (1997); Egan (2003);
Grönroos (1994); Grönroos (2006); Rich (2000); Berry (2002)
Turnbull and Pathmaraih (1991); Novicevic et al. (2006); Frow et al. (2011);
Crosby (2002); Payne and Frow (2005); Grönroos (2006); Lindgreen and
Antiolo (2005); Bull (2003); Kotorov (2003); Hsu et al. (2010); Schierholz
et al. (2007); Kracklauer et al. (2001); Zheng (2011); Kamakura et al.
(2005); Lagrosen (2005); Grayson and Ambler (1999); Campbell (2003);
Arnett and Badrinarayan (2005); Gurau et al. (2003); Marshall and Jaualgi
(1995); Vogt (2011); tanner Jr et al. (2005); Gouthier and Schmid (2003);
Ziethamal et al. (2006); Beckett-Camarata et al. (1998); Colgate and
Alexander (1998); Grönroos (1997); Ryals and Knox (2007); Ryals and
Knox (2005); Grönroos (1996); Tamosiuniene and Jasilioniene (2007);
RM strategy
Andersen and Kask (2012); Cheng et al. (2012); Lin and Su (2003); Frow
and Payne (2009); Yamaguchi (2009); Rogers (2005); Cao and Gruca
(2005); Colgate and Ranaher (2000); Millard (2003); Gruen and Hofstetter
(2010); Mendoza et al. (2007); Gwinner et al. (1998); Finnegan and Currie
(2010); Jackson (2011); Coulter and Ligas (2004); Myhal et al. (2008);
Brock and Zhou (2012); Buttle and Bolgrini (2000); Lundstrom and Wright
(2005); Glady and Coux (2009); Hawke and Hefferman (2006); Zolkiewski
(2004); Ward and Dagger (2007); Peppers and Rogers (1995); Mackenzie
and Hardy (1996); Storbacka (2012); Abratt and Russell (1999); Smyth and
Fitch (2009); Zhao (2011); Akerlund (2005)
228 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 1 Classification of RM literature based on model (continued)

Dimitriadis S.(2011); Shani and Chalasani (1991) ; Berry and Parasuraman

(1991); Hallen and Wiedersheimpaul (1984); Akerland H. (2005); Reinartz
et al. (2004); Rust and Verhoef (2005); Lukkari P. (2011); Oztaysi et al.
(2011); Lambert D. (2009); Zeblah et al. (2004); McCarthy and Fram
(2000); Lopez et al. (2006); Claylomb and Martin (2002); Plakayiannaki and
Saren (2006); Bueren et al. (2005); Lo at al (2010); Ang and Buttle (2006);
Relationship
Alt and Buttle (2006); Kim and Gupta (2012); David Jamieson (1994); Alt
process
and Puschmann (2005); Wagar et al. (2012); Li et al. (2009); Grönroos
(2004); Lin and Wu (2011); Lee et at (2010); Sichtmann (2007); Fan and Ku
(2010); Chan and Wang (2012); Elliott and Glynn (1998); Chang and Wu
(2010); Park et al. (2007); Verhoef (2003); Weitz and Bradford (1999);
Homburg et al. (2007); Lacey (2012); Kamakura et al. (2005); McKenna,
(1991); Chang et al. (2010)
Rodriguez M and Honey cull E.D. Jr. (2011); Zeblah et al. (2004); Landry et
al. (2006); Park and Kim (2003); Xu et al. (2002); Peltier et al. (2009); Rapp
et al. (2010); Bull and Adam (2010); Wang and Snanson (2008); Bose
(2002); Ritter and Walter (2006); Darkin and Howcraft (2003); Ryding
(2010); Jayachandran et al. (2005); Pass et al. (2004); Reyehav and
Wiesberg (2009); Vella and Caruana (2012); Alvarez et al. (2007);
RM technology
Limehouse (1999); Croteau and Li (2003); Lee et al. (2010); Ryale and Pyne
(2001); Richard et al. (2007); Knox et al. (2010); Chen et al. (2009);
Baharami et al. (2012); Richard and Thirkell (2007); Richter and Conford
(2008); Jayachandran et al. (2005); Khedr and Kok (2006); Schloter and
Aghajan (2005); Teo et al. (2006); Chang et al. (2010); Sen and Sinha
(2011); Coltman (2007)
Dwyer et al. (1987);Valsamakis and Spragne (2001); Jackson (1985); Erdem
and Walker (1997); Ryals (2005); Lin et al. (2010); Jarratt (2008); Zineldin
(2004); Pitta et al. (2004); Barnes et al. (2004); Pike et al. (2011); Livine
RM activities
et al. (2011); Kamakura et al. (2005); Juacius and Grigaite (2011); Bommer
et al. (2001); Lo et al. (2010); Ross (2005); Hong and Ha (2006); Peppard
(2000); Osborne and Ballantyne (2012)

Further, different constructs have been identified which are leading to the literature of
relationship marketing. Relationship among the constructs and relationship marketing is
given in Figure 3. Further, constructs leading to RM is given in Table 2.
Tables 3 and 4 shows total 184 researches which were identified based on the model
discussed above. Table 3 shows the year wise pattern of publication and Table 4
highlights periodic distribution of researches on vision, strategy, technology, activity and
processes.
Total 184 articles identified out of which 59 articles were from RM strategy
constitute 32.06%, followed by 40 researches in RM process constitute 21.73%, 33 and
34 researches in vision and technology constitute 17.93% and 18.47%, respectively.
Category wise table reveal that period 2003–2007 dominates among each period. RM
vision has registered a slow and steady growth from period first and recorded a jump in
period 2003–2007. Majority of research papers in RM strategy also fall in the period
2003–2007. Research on RM process was very little in early days of relationship
marketing and gained momentum during the period of 2003–2007 and 2008–2012.
Research on RM technology was not thought by researchers till period of 1997–2002.
RM technology gained popularity from period 2003–2007. RM activity have not been
able to register momentum, thus it requires attention of researchers.
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 229

Figure 3 Literature-based constructs leading to relationship marketing

 Trust
 Loyalty
 Commitment
Objectives  Relationship
quality
 Customer
satisfaction

Relationship
 Customer Marketing
retention
Customer  Customer
Analysis
perception
 Value
 Equity
 Price

 RM system
 Database
marketing
Tools  Analytical RM
 E-CRM
 Multichannel RM
 M-RM
 Communication

 Market orientation
 Employee
Market
perspective
Analysis
 Competitor analysis

 Innovation
 RM
Capability
implementation
 Service quality
 RM performance

Table 2 Literatures-based constructs leading to relationship marketing

Geib et al. (2006); Bueren et al. (2005); Chang et al. (2011);

Akroush and Mohammad (2010); Kridan and Goulding (2006);
Stefanou et al. (2003); Salojarvi et al. (2010); Murillo and
Annabi (2002); Salojarvi and Sainia (2010); Shin (2004); Bueren
et al. (2005); Rollings et al. (2011); Cooper (2005); Plessis and
Boon (2004); Bose and Sugaimaran (2003); Guchait et al.
(2011); Finnegan and Willeocks (2006); Finnegan and Willeocks
(2006); Battor et al. (2008); Gebert et al. (2003); Rowley (2004);
Knowledge management
Rowley (2002); Liew (2008); Perrott (2007); Gamble et al.
(2001); Wong (1998); Spence (1998); Teoh and Pan (2009);
Zolkiewski and Turnbull (2002); Cheng et al. (2005); Chen and
Su (2006); Elliott and Glynn (1998); Mithas et al. (2005); Sin
et al. (2005); Ha and Boe (2006); Garrido-Moreno and Padilla-
Melendez (2011); Stefanou and Sarnaniotis (2003); Gibbert et al.
(2002); Plessiss and Boon (2004); Ranjan and Bhatnagar (2011);
Dous et al. (2005); Sweeney and Webb (2008)
230 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 2 Literatures-based constructs leading to relationship marketing (continued)

Raich (2008); Bejou et al. (1998); Hansen (2012); Parish and

Holloway (2010); Fruehter and Sigue (2004); Rasid (2003);
Adamson et al. (2003); Macintosh(2007); Wong and Sohal
(2006); Lang and Colgate (2003); Gamle et al. (2001); Chen and
Mau (2007); Xie and Peng (2011); Moorman et al. (1993);
Patrick et al. (2003); Wilson (1995); Hewett et al. (2002);
Ambler and Styles (2000); Smith and Barclay (1997);
Trust Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002); Adobor (2002): Parasuraman et al.
(1985); Yang and Jun (2002); Ganesan (1994); Garbarina and
Johnson (1999); Morgan and Hunt (1994); Sharma and Patterson
(1999); Moliner et al. (2007); Aurier and N’Goala (2010); Wang
(2012); Lou et al. (2008); Ndubsi (2006); Bennet and Barkensjo
(2005); Kim and Cha (2002); Coyle et al. (2012); Schoenbachler
and Gordon (2002); Wetsch (2008); Wu (2009); Chen et al.
(2011); Chen et al. (2011)
Chahal and Kumari (2011); Stauss et al. (2005); Dagger and
O’Brien (2010); McCall and Voorhees (2010); Ferguson and
Hlavinka (2006); Apple-Mealenbroek (2008); Wallenburg and
Lukassen (2011); Ou et al. (2011); Ndubisi et al. (2007); Cone
et al. (2003); Evans and Laskin (1994); Hallowell (1996); Casalo
et al. (2008); Gee et al. (2008); Kim et al. (2012); Leverin and
Liljander (2006); Blocker (2012); Raimondo et al. (2008);
Rowley (2005); Kelley et al. (2003); Chahal (2008); Geddie et al.
Loyalty
(2005); Brown and Dacin (1997); Shaishan et al. (2011); Ruiz-
Molina et al. (2008); Verhoef et al. (2010); Ramaseshan et al.
(2006); Boedeker (1997); Ndubisi (2007); Boedeker (1997);
Ling and Wang (2007); Chiao et al. (2008); Bell et al. (2005);
Stern and Hammond (2004); Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002); Hsu et al.
(2009); Valenzuela et al. (2009); Bell et al. (2005); Das et al.
(2009); Zeithaml et al. (1996); Hoffmann and Birnbrich (2012);
Wetsch (2008); Bloemer and Odekerken-Schroder (2007)
Smith (2006); Button (2004); Shah et al. (2006); Kelley (1992);
Helm et al. (2006); Rapp et al. (2010); Reychav and Weisberg
(2009); Harris et al. (2005); Ro and Chen (2011); Donavan and
Hocutt (2001); Rowley et al. (2007); Appiah-Adu and Singh
(2004); Macintosh (2007); Heffernan and Valle (2007); Baird
and Gonzalez-Wertz (2011); Harker (2004); Osborne and
Customer orientation
Ballantyne (2012);Huang (2008); Martin and Bush (2003);
Ziethamal et al. (2006); Govindarajan et al. (2011); Spencer
(1999); Heinrich et al. (2011); Gundlach and Murphy (1993);
Pressey and Mathews (2000); Chen et al. (2009); Hillebrand et al.
(2011); Valenzuela et al. (2009); Stein and Smith (2009);
Hennig-Thurau and Thurau (2003)
Liljander and Roos(2002); Dagger and O’ Brien (2010); Park
and Kim (2003); Vazquez-Casielles et al. (2011); Parish and
Holloway (2010); Fruchter and Sigwe (2004); Rasid (2003);
Adamson et al. (2003); Wang and Sohal (2006); Gustafsson
et al. (2005); Gruen et al. (2000); Dwyer et al. (1987); Garbarino
Commitment and Johnson (1999); Morgan and Hunt (1994); Zeithamal et al.
(1990); Bansal et al. (2004); Paterson and Smith (2001); Aurier
and N’Goala (2010); Luo et al. (2008); Hunt et al. (2002); Lacey
and Morgan (2008); Bhagat and Williams (2002); Sääksjärvi
et al. (2007); Hsu et al. (2007); Goldring (2010); Bloemer and
Odekerken-Schroder (2007)
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012)
Table 2 Literatures-based constructs leading to relationship marketing (continued)
Database marketing
Analytical RM
RM performance
Relationship quality
Market orientation
Employee perspective
231
Geib et al. (2006); Lavender (2004); Neslin et al. (2006); Bijmolt
et al. (2010); Tsai (2011); Bala (2009); O’ Leary et al. (2004);
Lejeune (2001); Zahay (2008); Bradshaw and Brash (2001);
Madu and Madu (2003); Rajgopal and Sanchez (2005); Min
et al. (2002); Gamble et al. (2001); Fleischer (2009); Piccoli and
O’ Connor (2002); Long et al. (1999); Chen et al. (2006); Lai
et al. (2007); Tsai (2011); Sumathi and Sivanandam (2006); Jin
et al. (2006); Zboja and Hartline (2010); Xu and Qiu (2008)
Kim and Lee (2009); Srivastava et al. (2002); Xu and Walton
(2005); Ranjan and Bhatnagar (2011); Kamakura et al. (2005);
Asokan and Mohanavalli (2011,); Barcke and Poel (2011);
Rygielski et al. (2002); Lio (2009); Tuzhilin (2012);
Schniederjans et al. (2012); Iriana and Buttle (2007)
Yim et al. (2004); Peelan Ed (2009); Reinartz et al. (2004);
Ryals L. (2005); Srinivasan and Moorman (2005); Nielsen
(2002); Hallowell (1996); Shafia et al. (2011); Soch and Sandhu
(2008); Storbacka and Nenonen (2009); Reinartz et al. (2004);
Pelham (2006); Yang (2012); Eng (2004); Bueren et al. (2005);
Yoo and Park (2007); Fung et al. (2007); Akroush and
Mohammad (2010); Izquierdo et al. (2005); Cai (2009); Medina
and Rufin (2009); Itt and Wong (2011); Starkey et al. (2002);
Rapp et al. (2005); Battor et al. (2008); Kim et al. (2006);
Florez-Lopez (2009); Song et al. (2012); Livine et al. (2011);
Jitpaiboon et al. (2009); Yang and Mia (2012); Gummesson
(2004; Kim et al. (2006); Rodriguez and Honeycutt Jr. (2011);
Lee at al (2010); Reimann et al. (2009); Chang (2007); Liang
and Chen (2009); Chang and Ku (2009); Rese and Wulfhorst
(2009); Palmatier et al. (2006); Matsuno and Mentzer (2000);
Jayachandran (2005); Srinivasan and Moorman (2005); Ernst
et al. (2010); Reimann et al. (2010); Kim and Kim (2009); Stein
and Smith (2009); Keramati et al. (2010); Wu and Chen (2010);
Stone and Mason (1997); Sherrell and Bejou (2008); Pleshko
and Cronin Jr. (1997); Bush and Underwood (2007)
Sahney et al. (2004); Rasila et al. (2010); Chahal and Kumari et al.
(2011); Zineldin et al. (1999); Storbacka et al. (1994); Shahin
and Nikneshan (2008); Yoo and Park (2007); Fok et al. (2003);
Chahal (2008); Chahal (2010); Kim et al. (2006); Hurst et al.
(2009); Gustafsson et al. (2004); Macintosh (2007); Kellog et al.
(1997); Wand and Davis (2008); Cheng et al. (2008); Holloway
et al. (2009); Ndubisi and Wah (2005); Chang and Ku (2009);
Chang and Ku (2009); Su et al. (2010); Wulf et al. (2011);
Gregoire and Fisher (2006); Wu and Li (2011); Crosby et al.
(1990); Tsao and Hsieh (2012); Vieira (2010); Ting (2011)
Landroguez et al. (2011); Bolton (2006); Egeren and O’ Connor
(1998); Reid et al. (2005); Helfert et al. (2002); Herington et al.
(2006); Madariage and Valor (2007); Kohli and Jaworski (1990);
Narver and Slater (1990); Slater and Narver (1994); Matsuno
and Mentzen (1998); Noble et al. (2002); Han et al. (1998);
Steinman et al. (2000)
Robinson Jr. et al. (2011); Yoo and Park (2007); Ro and Chen
(2011); Crick (2002); Mende and Bolton (2011); Plakoyiannaki
et al. (2008); Baker (2002); Forquhar (2004); Crick (2002); Shang
and Lin (2010); Sabiote and Roman (2009); Pereira et al. (2012)
232 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 2 Literatures-based constructs leading to relationship marketing (continued)

Pan et al. (2006); Zeng et al. (2003); Alan D. Smith (2005);

Baird and Parasnis (2011); Omar et al. (2011); Katsioloudes
et al. (2007); Walker and Neeley (2004); Durkin and Howcroft
(2003); O’Leary et al. (2004); Lejeune (2001); Yoon et al.
(2008); Louvieris and Oppewal (2004); Adobanjo (2003);
Sackmann et al. (2010); Romano Jr. Fjermsetad and Romano Jr.
(2003); Harrigan et al. (2008); Feinberg and Kadam (2002);
Fjermestal and Romano Jr. (2003); Romano Jr. Fjermestal
(2001); Scullin et al. (2004); Kelley et al. (2003); Harrigan
(2009); Acher and Yuan (2000); Bradshaw and Brash (2001);
Ganesh (2004); Wang (2008); Gianni and Franceschini (2003);
Electronic RM
Jukic et al. (2002); Gurall (2003); Liao et al. (2011); Gurau et al.
(2003); Alvarez et al. (2007); Alt and Poschmann (2005);
Stockdale (2006); Breu et al. (2001); Feinberg (2002); Fux et al.
(2007); Ross (2005); Khalifa and Shen (2009); Ha and Janda
(2011); Ozok et al. (2007); Sigala (2006); Chang and Wu (2010);
Gurau et al. (2003); Liu et al. (2006); Romano Jr. and
Fjermestad (2003); Samantha (2009); Liu et al. (2006); Qian
(2007); Sivaraks et al. (2011); Winson et al. (2004); Iyer and
Bejou (2003); Aksoy et al. (2008); Winsor et al. (2008); Bauer et
al. (2002); Shapiro et al. (2004); Lichtenthal (2004); Rebolledo
et al. (2004); Mclntyre (2004)
Louvieris and Oppewal (2004); Ganesh (2004); Erdein and
Multichannel RM Walker (1997); Kundish et al. (2001); Thomas Sulliovan (2005);
Srinivasan and Moorman (2005); Dutta and Menon (2010)
Maguire et al. (2007); Reid et al. (2005); Duncan and Moriarty
(1998); Andersen (2001); Racit and Dagger (2010); Grönroos
Communication
(2004); Thomas and Sullivan (2005); Sutter et al. (2011);
Ozgener and Iraz (2006)
Chahal and Kumari (2011); Crosby and Stephens (1987);Dagger
and O’’Brien (2010); Hallowelll (1996); Leverin and Liljander
(2006); Ryding (2010); Feinberg and Kadam (2002); Guchait
et al. (2011); Geddie et al. (2005); Chang et al. (2012); Torres
and Kline (2006); Kellog et al. (1997); Padmavathy et al. (2012);
Robinson et al. (2005); Hansen (2012); Vazquez Casielles et al.
Customer satisfaction (2010); Ndubisi and Wah (2005); Geddie et al. (2005); Torres
and Kline (2006); Liang and Wang (2007); Chen and Chiu
(2009); Liu et al. (2006); Wang et al. (2007); Webster (1992);
Mithas et al. (2005); Blocker (2012); Gustafsson et al. (2005);
Lemon et al. (2002); Garbarino and Johnson (1999); Lie et al.
(2006); Cheng et al. (2012); Bruhn and Frommeyer (2008);
Wetsch (2008)
M-RM Ranjan and Bhatnagar (2009); Lee and June (2007); Sangle and
Awasth (2011); Valsecchi et al. (2007); Sinisalo (2007); Sanayei
and Miraei (2008); Sanayei and Mirzaei (2008)
RM implementation Raman et al. (2006); Bohling et al. (2006); Gupta and Shukla
(2002); Shum et al. (2008); Marfleet (2004); Meadows and Dibb
(2012); Lindgree and Crawford (1999); Whyall and Koschek
(2010); Kim et al. (2012); Lindgree (2004);Corner and Hinton
(2002); Vogt (2011); Chang (2007); Wu (2001); Qian (2007);
Beeker et al. (2009); Chalmeta (2006); Henneberg (2006)
Innovation Fredberg and Piller (2011); Ernst et al. (2010); Greer and Lei
(2012)
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 233

Table 2 Literatures-based constructs leading to relationship marketing (continued)

Durand et al. (2011); Kleinltenkamp and Ehret (2006); Brodie et al.

(2011); Pyne and Halt (2001); Kumar et al. (2006); Heinrich et al.
(2011); McCarthy et al. (2006); March (2008); McNally and
Griffin (2007); Neslin et al. (2012); Ryals and Knox (2005); Lin
et al. (2009); Chang and Wu (2010); Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002);
Value
Reinartz and Kumar (2003); Chahal and Kumari (2012); Ryals
(2005); Berger and Martin (2008); Fruchter and Sigue (2009);
Payne (2000); Landherr (2011); Landroguez et al. (2011); Wu
and Li (2011); Persson (2011); Dorai and Varshney (2012);
Chen and lin (2011)
Holmlund and Strandvik (1999); Fink et al. (2011); Wulf et al.
Customer perception
(2001); Bruhn et al. (2009)
Valos et al. (2007); Cunha et al. (2010); Choi et al. (2011); Li
et al. (2002); Pass et al. (2004); Finnegan and Willeocks (2006);
Wang (2007); Choy et al. (2004); Ku (2010); Doque et al.
(2010); Lai et al. (2007); Cunha et al. (2010); Asimakopoulou
RM system
et al. (2011); Gurau et al. (2003); Pai and Tu (2011); Hsieh
(2009); Bull (2010); Jain and Jain, (2005); Kim and Kim,
(2004); Ku, (2010); Piccoli et al., (2003); Brotherton and Turner,
(2001); Shaw, (1999)
Persson and Ryals (2010); Ziethamal et al. (2006); Robinson et al.
(2005); Kumar et al. (2006); Szmigin and Bourne (1998);
Equity
Persson (2011); Vella et al. (2012); Richards and Jones (2008);
Bush et al. (2007); Iyer and Bejou (2006)
Farquhar (2004); Ahmad (2001); Li et al. (2009); Levett et al.
(1999); Gustafsson et al. (2005); Lemon et al. (2002); Reinartz and
Customer retention Kumar (2000); Lacey (2012); Verhoef et al. (2003); Nili and
Keramati (2011); Crosby and Stephens (1987); Kim and Gupta
(2012)
Lewis (2005); Villanueva et al. (2007); McIlroy and Barnell
Price
(2000); Ryals (2006)
Competition Villanueva et al. (2007); Herington et al. (2006)
Vazquez-Casielles et al. (2010); Holloway et al. (2009);
Edvardsson and Strandvik (2000); Rasid (2003); Colgate and
Steward (1998); Wong and Sohal (2003); Barnes and Howlett
(1998); Barnes and Howlett (1998); Wong and Sohal (2006);
Service quality
Hurst et al. (2009); Kim et al. (2012); Horn et al. (2005); Liang
and Chen (2009); Chiao et al. (2008); Bull et al. (2005); Bell et al.
(2005); Hess Jr. et al. (2003); Kim et al. (2012); Edvardsson and
Roos (2003)

Table 3 Category wise distributions (1983–2012)

Vision Strategy Process Technology Activities Total

1983 2 – – – – 2
1984 – – 1 – – 1
1985 – – – – 1 1
1986 – – – – – –
1987 – – – – 1 1
1988 – – – – – –
234 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 3 Category wise distributions (1983–2012) (continued)

Vision Strategy Process Technology Activities Total

1989 1 – – – – 1
1990 2 – – – – 2
1991 – 1 3 – – 4
1992 – – – – – –
1993 – – – – – –
1994 2 – 1 – – 3
1995 1 2 – – – 3
1996 – 2 – – – 2
1997 1 1 – – 1 3
1998 – 3 1 – – 4
1999 1 2 1 1 – 5
2000 1 2 1 – – 4
2001 1 1 – – 2 4
2002 2 1 – 2 – 5
2003 3 7 1 3 1 15
2004 2 2 3 2 3 12
2005 4 10 5 3 2 24
2006 2 4 4 4 – 14
2007 2 5 3 4 1 15
2008 2 1 – 2 1 6
2009 1 4 2 3 – 10
2010 2 3 6 6 2 19
2011 1 5 4 2 2 14
2012 3 4 2 1 10
33 59 40 34 18 184

Table 4 Category wise periodic pattern of publication

RM RM RM RM RM
Total
vision strategy process technology activities
1983–1987 2 – 1 – 2 5
1988–1992 3 1 3 – – 7
1993–1997 4 5 1 – 1 11
1998–2002 5 9 3 3 2 22
2003–2007 13 28 16 16 7 80
2008–2012 6 16 16 15 6 59
Total 33 59 40 34 18 184
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 235

Figure 4 Graphical presentation of category wise pattern of publications (see online version
for colours)

Table 5 shows publication of RM-based literature in different journals from 1983 to

2012. Journals which published ten or more than ten articles of RM in all period were as
follows: The Service Industries Journal, Total Quality Management and Business
Excellence, Journal of Relationship Marketing, Managing Service Quality, Management
Decision, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Journal of Services Marketing,
International Journal of Bank Marketing, Business Process Management Journal,
European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of
Marketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Academy of
Marketing Sciences, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Business & Industrial
Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing.
Table 5 Journal wise publication

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

AISC – – – – – 3
BT Technology Journal – – – – – –
Business Strategy Series – – – – 1 2
Business Process
– – – – 12 1
Management Journal
Benchmarking: An
– – – – 1 1
International Journal
British Food Journal – – – 1 1 –
Baltic Journal of
– – – – 1 1
Management
Business Information
– – – – 2 –
Review
CCIS – – – – – 9
Construction
management & – – – – – 2
Economy
Competitiveness Review – – – – – 2
236 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 5 Journal wise publication (continued)

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

Cornell Hospitality
– – – – – 1
Quarterly
Cornell Hotel and
– – – – 1 –
Administration Quarterly
Cross Cultural
– – – – 1 –
Management
Canadian Journal of
– – – – 1 –
Administrative Sciences
Chinese Management
– – – – – 1
Studies
Decision Model – – – – – –
Decision Support System – – – – 1 –
Direct Marketing :An
– – – – – 1
international Journal
E-Business, Behavior &
– – – – 1 1
Information Technology
European Business
– – – – 1 1
Review
European Journal of
– – – – 1 –
Innovation Management
European Journal of
Information – – – – 1 –
Management
European Journal of
– – – 1 6 3
Marketing
Electron Marketing – – – – – 1
Global Business Review – – 2 – – 1
Handbook of Marketing
– – – – 1 2
Decision Model
Industrial Marketing
– 2 – – – –
Management
Information &
– – – – 1 –
Management
International Small
– – – – – 2
Business Journal
International Journal of
– – – 4 6 5
Bank Marketing
International Journal of
Healthcare Quality – – – – 1 1
Assurance
Information
Management & – – – – – 1
Computer Security
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 237

Table 5 Journal wise publication (continued)

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

International Journal
of Production &
– – – – 2 –
Performance
Management
International Marketing
– – – 1 – –
Review
Information Technology
– – – – – 1
& People
International Journal of
Information – – – 2 2 1
Management
Industrial Management
– – – 2 1 3
& Data System
International Journal of
– – – 2 – –
Electronic Commerce
International Journal of
Enterprise Information – – 2 – 1 2
Management
International Journal of
Service Industry – – 1 1 1 –
Management
International Journal of
Physical Distribution & – – – 1 1 –
Logistic Management
International Journal of
Quality & Reliability – – – – 2 1
Management
Information Technology
– – – – 2 –
& Management
International Journal of
Operations & – – – 1 – –
Production Management
Industrial Management
– – – – – 1
& Data System
International Journal of
Retail & Distribution – – – 3 2 3
Management
Information System
– – – – 1 –
Management
International Journal of
– – – 1 – –
Media management
International Journal of
Contemporary – – – 1 3 3
Hospitality Management
International Journal of
– – – – – 1
Hospitality Management
238 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 5 Journal wise publication (continued)

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

International Journal of
– – – – – 1
Emerging Market
Internet Research – – – 2 – 1
Information
Management & – – – – – –
Computer Security
Industrial Marketing
– – – – 2 1
Management
Journal of Marketing – 4 7 9 21 1
Journal of Marketing
– – 1 2 – –
Theory and Practice
Journal of Relationship
– – – 4 15 17
Marketing
Journal of Customer
Service in Marketing – – 1 – – –
and Management
Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales – – – – 10 –
Management
Journal of Academy of
– 1 – 5 9 7
Marketing Sciences
Journal of Strategic
– – 3 4 5
Marketing
Journal of Business
Economics & – – – – 1 –
Management
Journal of Cultural
– – – – – 1
Economy
Journal of Market
– – – 1 – –
Focused Management
Journal of Marketing
1 – – 2 1 –
Research
Journal of Business
– – – 1 – 1
Perspective
Journal of Travel
– – – – 1 2
Research
Journal of Vacation
– – – 1 – 1
Marketing
Journal of Hospitality &
– – – – 1 –
Tourism Research
Journal of Medical
Marketing: Device,
Diagnostic & – – – 1 – –
Pharmaceutical
Marketing
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 239

Table 5 Journal wise publication (continued)

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

Journal of Medical
– – – – 1 1
Marketing
Journal of Service
– – – – 2 5
Research
Journal of Quality
– – – 1 – –
Management
Journal of consumer
– 1 – 1 1 –
Marketing
Journal of Business &
– – 1 2 6 6
Industrial Marketing
Journal of Business
– – – – – 1
Studies
Journal of Production &
– – – – – 1
Innovation Management
Journal of Marketing
– – – – 1 –
Communication
Journal of Business
– – – – 1 1
Ethics
Journal of Business
– – – – – 1
Psychology
Journal of Optimum
– – – – – 1
Theory Application
Journal of Business
– – – – – 1
Marketing Management
Journal of Management
– – – 1 – 1
Development
Journal of System and
– – – – – 3
Information Technology
Journal of Retailing &
– – – – – 1
Consumer Satisfaction
Journal of Services
– – 1 7 2 8
Marketing
Journal of Business
– – – – 1 1
Strategy
Journal of Knowledge
– – – – 1 2
Management
Journal of Enterprise
Information – – – – 2 –
Management
Journal of Marketing
Practice: Applied – – – 1 – –
Marketing Science
Journal of Operation
– – – 1 – –
Research Society
240 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 5 Journal wise publication (continued)

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

Journal of
Organizational
– – – – 1 1
Computing & Electronic
Commerce
Journal of Business
– – – 1 1 2
Research
Journal of Services
– – – 4 2
Research
Journal of Management
– – – – 1 –
History
Journal of Consumer
– – – – 1 –
Research
Journal of Information,
Communication and – – – – – 1
Ethics in Society
Journal of Advertising – – – – 1 –
JBM – – – 1 1 4
Knowledge & Process
– – – – 1 –
Management
Library Management – – – – 1 –
Lecture Note on
– – – – 2 1
Electrical Engineering
LNBIP – – – – – 4
LNAI – – – 1 5 1
LNCS – – – 2 2
LNICST – – – – – 1
Marketing Intelligence
– – – – – 2
System
Marketing Intelligence
– – 2 1 9 3
& Planning
Marketing Theory – – – – 2 2
Management Research
– – – – – 1
News
Management Research
– – – – – 4
Review
Management Decision – 1 3 3 1 2
Management Sciences – – – – 1 –
Managing Service
– – 1 3 7 4
Quality
Marketing Letter – – – – 5 –
Online Information
– – – – 2 –
Review
Property Management – – – – 1
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 241

Table 5 Journal wise publication (continued)

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012

Psychology & Marketing – – – – 4
Quality Market
– – – 2 –
Research
Qualitative Market
– – – 1 2 –
Research
Quant Market Econ – – – – 1 –
Total Quality
– – – – – 1
Management
Total Quality
Management & – – – – 4 7
Business Excellence
TQM Magazine – – 1 2 2 –
TQM Journal – – – 1 –
Research & Practical
Issue of Enterprise – – – – 1 –
Information System
R & D Management – – – – – 1
Studies in
Computational – – – – 1 1
Intelligence
Strategy & Leadership – – – – 1 3
Sage Publication – – – – 1
Scientometrics – – – – – 1
Social Policy & Society – – – – – 1
Social & Economic
– – – 1 – –
Studies
Supply Chain
– – – 1 1 –
Management
The Electronic Library – – – – – 1
The Service Industries
– – – 2 1 9
Journal
Tourism Management – – – – 1
VINE – – – – 1 –
Work Study – – – 1 – –

Whereas journals which have published five or more than five but less than ten articles
of RM in all period were as follows: CCIS, International Journal of Information
Management, Industrial Management & Data System, International Journal of
Enterprise Information Management, International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Journal
of Services Research, JBM, LNAI, Marketing Letter and TQM Magazine. Few journals
were excluded which were not considered important in terms of research contribution on
the study.
242 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Journals especially dedicated to relationship marketing and service sector have

dominant publications in relationship marketing such as: Journal of Services Marketing,
Journal of Marketing, Managing Service Quality, Marketing Intelligence and Planning,
etc. While many other journals have also started publishing literature based on RM like:
Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, TQM Magazine, Journal of
Organisational Computing and Electronic Commerce in light of growing acceptance of
enduring customer relationship not only in service sector but also in other industry.
Table 6 reveals that the USA is leading in RM research with 204 publications
followed by the UK, Australia, Taiwan, China and Germany with 78, 34, 28, 26, 23
publications, respectively.
Table 6 Country wise distribution of RM literature

Country 1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012 Total

Argentina – – – – – 1 1
Australia – – – 4 17 13 34
Austria – – – – – 1 1
Belgium – – – – – 2 2
Canada – – – 3 9 4 16
Chile – – – – – 1 1
Croatia – – – – – 1 1
China – – – 1 10 15 26
Denmark – – – 2 2 1 5
Finland – – 6 2 6 7 21
France – – – – – 1 1
Germany – – – 2 7 15 24
Greece – – – 2 3 2 7
Hong Kong – – – 2 4 4 10
India – – – 1 2 11 14
Iran 3 3
Ireland – – – – 1 2 3
Israel – – – – – 2 2
Italy – – – – 2 – 2
Japan – – – – – 1 1
Jordan – – – – – 1 1
Lithuania – – – – 1 2 3
Malaysia – – – 1 4 – 5
Mexico – – – – 1 – 1
New
– – – 5 4 4 13
Zealand
Norway – – – – 2 3 5
Netherland – – – – 4 6 10
Portugal – – – – – 5 5
Russia – – – – – – –
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 243

Table 6 Country wise distribution of RM literature (continued)

Country 1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012 Total

Singapore – – – – 2 1 3
South
– – – 2 2 – 4
Africa
South
– – – – 10 8 18
Korea
Spain – – – – 4 5 9
Sweden – – – 2 5 5 12
Switzerland – – – – 5 4 9
Taiwan – – – – 3 25 28
Thailand – – – – – 2 2
Turkey – – – – – 2 2
UK 3 24 33 18 78
UAE – – – – 1 1
USA – 2 13 44 86 59 204

Countries like Finland, South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Canada contribute
almost equally in RM literature. Growth in RM literature has been witnessed in countries
like India, Sweden, Spain, Netherland, Norway, Greece, etc.
Developed countries like the USA and the UK have dominance over RM publications
but in period of 2008–2012, more paper were published in developing nations like China.
The reason for shift of publication is that RM publications are growing importance of
RM in marketing strategy not only in developed nations but also in developing nations.
Large organisations are eager to expand their operations globally with a cooperative
relationship with customers in developed and developing nations. Several researches
have been conducted in joint collaboration in developed and developing nations. These
findings suggest that RM has gained importance in marketing planning and spreading
across under developing nations. One publication might belong to two or more than two
countries because an article can be jointly written by authors who belong to different
countries.
Table 7 shows total publications of relationship marketing since 1983. This includes
publications based on model that classified RM literatures and all other literatures that
identified several constructs leading to relationship marketing.

Figure 5 Total RM literatures since 1983 (see online version for colours)
244 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Table 7 Period wise distribution of total RM publication

1983–1987 1988–1992 1993–1997 1998–2002 2003–2007 2008–2012 Total

RM literature 6 13 24 93 220 202 558

Total number of literature considered for classification based on theme of RM was 558.
184 articles were classified on the basis of model discussed above and others were used
for classifying different constructs leading RM. Overall 558 researches were considered
for our study. Period 2003–2012 leads with 220 articles among all period followed by
period 2008–2012 with 202 articles.
Table 8 Year wise total RM publications

1983 2
1984 1
1985 1
1986 –
1987 2
1988 –
1989 2
1990 5
1991 4
1992 2
1993 3
1994 8
1995 3
1996 4
1997 6
1998 14
1999 14
2000 12
2001 18
2002 34
2003 41
2004 43
2005 51
2006 41
2007 44
2008 38
2009 43
2010 42
2011 48
2012 32
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 245

Table 9 reveals industry wise pattern of RM literatures. Services sector dominates among
all sectors in RM research. Banking, financial services, healthcare, hotel, tourism,
hospitality, telecom constitute over 42% of total RM research. Manufacturing,
automobiles, retail, pharmaceuticals sectors are followed by services sector.
Table 9 Industry wise publications

1983– 1988– 1993– 1998– 2003– 2008–

Total
1987 1992 1997 2002 2007 2012
Retail – – 3 10 14 19 46
Pharmaceuticals – – 4 9 9 22
Financial
1 – 2 12 16 18 49
services
Manufacturing – – 3 7 18 18 46
Banking – – 3 12 22 18 55
Tourism – – 1 4 9 11 25
FMCG – – 3 5 9 17
Healthcare – – 1 1 6 11 19
E-Business – – 1 6 17 8 32
Hotel – – 1 6 9 10 26
Education – – 1 7 7 15
IT – – 2 1 10 14 27
Media – – 1 6 8 15
Automobile – – 1 – 7 7 15
Telecom – – 2 – 10 12 24
Real estate – – – – 1 3 4
Engineering – – – 2 4 3 9
Entertainment – – – – 2 – 2
Hospitality – – – 2 5 2 9
Sports – – – – 4 1 5

5 Results and discussion

Ngai (2005) reviewed RM literature during 1992–2002; he identified 5 broader category

and 34 sub categories, whereas Kevork and Vrechopoulos (2009) conducted Keyword
Analysis to classify the relationship marketing literature for the period of 2000–2006.
Das (2009) on the other hand reviewed and classified RM literature for the period of
1994–2006. He classified literature on the basis of five mutual dimension of CRM.
Awasthi and Sangle (2012) have classified RM Literature on multi channel CRM
environment from 2006–2010. Agariya and Singh (2011) also have reviewed RM
literature. Their work is based on defining RM and identifying several constructs of RM
only. Ngai et al. (2009) again classified RM literature on data mining dimension. Yet
none of the study has classified RM literature for the period of 1982–2012. Thus, this
paper fills this gap.
246 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

Classification of RM provides an insight of RM literature. This review not only

identifies RM literature but also provide valuable contribution in terms of understanding
the concept of RM over a period of time. Most of previous work on literature
classification is based on limited dimensions such as: multichannel environment, data
mining, etc. While present study covers a comprehensive classification not only on the
basis of conceptual foundation but also on several other ground such as defining
constructs leading to RM, period wise literature analysis, journal wise distribution,
industry distribution, country participation.
Classification of literature was based on five main categories and sub categories. Five
main categories were – vision, strategy, relationship processes, technology and activities.
Relationship marketing has been gaining popularity among scholars and many articles on
various dimensions such as relationship marketing strategy, technology and activities
can be found at an increasing rate in published journals over the years. Researchers
have worked on different constructs to have a better understanding of relationship
marketing. Constructs such as Knowledge management, RM performance, trust,
customer orientation, commitment, loyalty, relationship quality, have been found most
prominent among scholars in understanding relationship marketing. Further, Industry
wise analysis was also conducted. A close analysis of industry wise relationship
marketing literature shows dominance of service sector such as banking, financial
services, hospitality, healthcare, tourism, hotel, telecom, etc., and followed by retail,
pharmaceuticals, automobiles, media, entertainment, etc., there is a need to conduct RM-
based research in industry like automobiles, engineering, real estate, education, sports,
etc., services sector have been a popular area for researchers and practitioners for
conducting research on relationship marketing. Researchers should look forward for
those areas which have not gained considerable size attention for RM work like
engineering and automobiles.

6 Implications

The study provides a bibliographic presentation of relationship marketing based on

categories defined above. The study provides an exhaustive list of literatures on several
dimensions and time framework which facilitates academic researchers and industry
practitioners in identifying existing studies on relationship marketing. Further, scholars
can extract new dimension of relationship marketing on the bibliographic study.
The study can be generalised on population of online databases which were selected
for this work particularly but not to the whole literature of relationship marketing.
Though classification of relationship marketing literatures have been done by some
scholars but a broader view on component of RM literature review and constructs
identification leading to RM literature, industry wise analysis and country-based research
work have not been performed by any researcher. Thus, this paper is an attempt to fill
this gap. Moreover, a distribution of research on period wise was also conducted.
RM vision has a normal contribution from period one to period four. It registered
double digit growth as compare to its previous period. Literature related to RM strategy
has gained momentum in period fifth. Majority of research in RM literature were in RM
strategy. RM processes and RM technology have also registered growth in period fifth
while RM activities have continuous and steady contribution in RM literature. Besides
 Relationship marketing research (1983–2012) 247

this, several important constructs which define RM have been identified. Knowledge
management, trust, loyalty, customer orientation, commitment, database marketing,
analytical marketing, RM performance, relationship quality, market orientation, E-RM,
Customer satisfaction, communication, M-RM, RM implementation, value, RM system,
service quality are the major constructs which define RM. Contribution of research on
RM were highest in the period 2003–2007 which had witnessed a sharp rise.
Initially, majority of publications were in RM vision and RM strategy and were based
on conceptual foundation. Thereafter, significant growth has been seen in RM
technology, processes and activities across journals and industry implications.
Research papers emerged as registering a sharp rise in constructs defining RM like
knowledge management, trust, loyalty, customer orientation, commitment, database
marketing, analytical marketing, RM performance, relationship quality, market orientation,
E-RM, RM system, service quality, etc.
Initially, RM literature were based on conceptual foundation but gradually in period
two and three, conceptual and empirical analysis had seen almost equal contributions.
Thereafter, sizeable share of research papers were based on empirical analysis. In
indicates the need of empirical-based analysis that establishes conceptual foundation of
RM literature.
Majority of RM research is concentrated around service sector while it has also been
conducted in other industry like FMCG, pharmaceuticals, automobile, etc., but they are
very few in numbers. So there is a need for exhaustive research in those sectors/industries
where researchers have not contributed seriously.
Research has largely been conducted in countries like USA and UK. It has been
witnessed that under developed nations like China is also having some contributions in
RM research work but still there are many countries in the world which have not been
involved in RM related research work. So, there is a need to conduct RM related research
work in those countries to establish the empirical validity of the conceptual foundation in
specific condition.
Trends in RM research work reveals that researchers have shown their interest and
contribution in the development of RM literature. It is expected that research activities in
RM literature will further be enriched by including more interrelated area. Present work
gives detailed bibliographic presentation of existing research work which gives a
direction to conduct future research in RM literature.
Although research on service industry has dominance in relationship marketing
literature but a steady growth in other types of Industries for the relationship marketing
research can also be seen. Researchers can put their focus for several other industry types
in which a little or almost no work status exist. It provides a single platform for
researchers to study existing literature and an idea for undertaking future research in
relationship marketing.
RM literature classification based on five dimensions, constructs leading to
relationship marketing, country and industry wise literature distribution are essential for
firms while framing and implementing relationship marketing practices. Industries
should give appropriate emphasis on five dimensions of RM model and constructs
leading to RM so that relationship marketing can be effectively implemented. It is a
process of identifying and developing a profitable customer relationship by delivering
superior customer value, service and satisfaction (Webster, 1992; Ryals, 2006). Many
248 B.K. Yadav and A. Singh

researchers have highlighted the need of maintaining long-term relationship which is a

key to successful implementation of marketing programme. Long-term relationship
covers various aspects of relationship marketing. In this context, this work fills gap in
RM literature by identifying various constructs leading to RM.
This work also analyses the sector and country wise RM literature which indicates
that service sector, especially financial and hospitality has been a centre of contribution
by researchers. Hence, there is a need to conduct the study in other sectors and countries.
RM conceptual foundation can be validated in industry specific environment in the
context of developing nations like India, China, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. Developing
nations are experiencing rise in share of service sector in their GDP. It is an important
fact to conduct more study in RM in these countries and also in other sectors such as
automobile, manufacturing, etc.

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