The Role Of Guanxi Quality In Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing orientation is marketing value that puts buyer-seller relationship at the center of operational thinking. A large body of research establishes empirically that relationship marketing orientation enhance relationship quality, and in turn the mediator lead to customer loyality.Relationship marketing orientation have a direct effect on customer loyality that is actually greater than the effect mediated by relationship quality. The finding also suggests that the extant relationship-marketing model is missing one or more important mediator that researchers need to understand to appreciate the impact of relationship marketing orientation on customer loyality.Guanxi is different from relationship in Chinese cultural. Guanxi is a psychological impact on two or more parties formed by the interaction between people, and guanxi quality is overall assessment of the strength of a guanxi. Based on service personnel expertise, Relationship quality contains satisfaction and trust. Based on interaction between customer and service personnel, guanxi includes the huibao, face and ganqing.In the B2B background, most research are of guanxi is on opportunistic behavior, the use of channel power, the impact of corporate and financial performance.Based on the above analysis, this paper investigates the role of guanxi in relationship marketing in high-contact services of B2C. this paper carry out three aspects research. First, according to the reciprocity theory, combined with the existing literature and field interviews, this study identified the guanxi quality is mediating variables between relationship marketing orientation and customer loyalty. The empirical results indicate that guanxi quality is the mediating variables of relationship marketing orientation and customer loyalty. Second, some scholars believe that guanxi quality enhances relationship quality; other scholars believe that relationship quality enhances guanxi. According to attitude theory, based on existing literature, the empirical results show that relationship quality has a positive effect on guanxi. Finally, through a literature review and field interviews, this paper hypothesize that involvement and firm consistency moderate guanxi and customer loyalty.The empirical results indicate only firm consistency moderate the impact of guanxi quality on customer loyalty.Theoretical innovation of this paper are following:(1) Based on reciprocity theory, combined with the literature and field interviews, this paper find guanxi quality is mediator between relationship marketing orientation and customer loyalty.(2)Based on the theory of attitude, combined with the literature and field interviews, this paper finds the effects of relationship quality on guanxi quality.(3) Based on the literature and field interviews, this paper finds that firm consistency moderates the impact of guanxi on customer loyalty.