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The purpose of this paper is to review the past, current and future trends in empirical research and theoretical insights into online relationship marketing.

Review over 100 empirical and theoretical studies in the online relationship marketing from top marketing and management journals.

This paper examined three areas pertinent to online relationship marketing: first, the evolution of online relationship marketing from pre-1990s to the present, which offers a temporal snapshot of changes in and an overview of the critical components that make up the structure of online relationship marketing; second, key theoretical perspectives are underlying the development of online relationship marketing; and third, empirical insights into online relationship marketing. In general, online relationship marketing has evolved from customers being passive receivers of online information and services to active co-producers and value co-creators.

The paper identifies future research areas, including multiple layers of interactions, use of new technologies and platforms and the dark side of online communications.

The authors dedicated summary tables for each area, highlighting key findings, which in turn suggest a series of managerial recommendations for facilitating efficient, effective buyer–seller interactions and maximising firm performance in relation to online relationship marketing.

The aim of this paper is to explore and better understand e-relationship marketing and to identify elements (key concepts) that are predominant to ensure success via the internet.

The exploratory cognitive mapping technique (Cossette, 2004) employs three types of respondents, namely a banking expert, online banking customer and academic expert.

The study points up similarities with traditional relationship marketing (e.g. satisfaction, commitment by bank) and identifies several new concepts spawned by the web-based environment. More precisely, the study highlights the importance of the simplicity and ease of the customer's web experience.

The exploratory and qualitative nature of this study opens the door to validation with a broader sample using a self-administered questionnaire developed based on the cognitive mapping technique.

In addition to guaranteeing customer satisfaction, it is important: that customers perceive the bank's investment in and commitment to the e-relationship strategy; and, that customers enjoy a highly positive web experience (e.g. perceived quality of site and ease-of-use).

Research findings result in an enhanced understanding of e-relationship marketing. Also, given the combination of sparse use of cognitive mapping in marketing and investigation of three different types of subjects (banking expert, online banking customer and academic expert), the findings lend originality while making a substantive theoretical contribution to topical literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of service quality and relationship quality on customer loyalty in different stages of the relationship life cycle in online banking services.

A total of 651 Iranian online banking customers participated in the research by completing questionnaires. The research hypotheses were tested using structural modeling technique.

The results showed that the relationship quality on customer loyalty in online banking services is affected by the relationship life cycle. The results also showed that online service quality, in the form of Utilitarian quality and Hedonic quality, has a positive effect both directly and indirectly on customer loyalty through online relationship quality.

In this paper, the relationship dynamics was achieved through adding the relationship life cycle variable to the model. However, the study was a cross-sectional research and different results might be obtained if data was collected longitudinally.

In an online banking service, the role of relationship quality in the prediction of customer loyalty is reduced as the relationship ages. Therefore, marketers need to consider other marketing actions to continue their relationship with the customer in the long run.

This paper examines customer loyalty to online banking services from dynamic perspective by introducing relationship life cycle as a moderating variable for the first time. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is to develop the relationship marketing literature in the field of relationship dynamics and to challenge the effectiveness of relationship marketing in the long run.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a reliable and valid integrative scale for online relationship quality based on both the relationship marketing and electronic commerce literature.

The scale was developed using the approach put forward by Churchill (1979). The scale development and validation process includes a qualitative exploratory phase, three pre-tests and a final study using an online questionnaire (476 members of a consumer panel).

The findings support a third-order integrative model of online relationship quality composed of three dimensions (trust, commitment and satisfaction). The final scale is composed of 21 items.

The study shows a lack of discrimination between satisfaction and trust, which other studies have also found. As the scale is validated in only one sector, online banking, it should be tested and replicated in other contexts (e.g. insurance).

An instrument for assessing the quality of online relationships between banks and consumers is important for marketing professionals who want to determine their relational positioning and focus on those dimensions that promote long-term online relationships. The scale developed here can be used to assess customers’ perceptions of the quality of the relationship with an online financial institution, to segment those customers more effectively, and to improve targeting of marketing strategies and activities.

This study contributes to the enrichment of the body of theory and provides researchers with a tool for the further investigation of the quality of online relationships.

The Internet has the potential to alter many aspects of current marketing theory and practice. Most early research studies have focused on the role of the Internet as a promotional tool. More recently, case‐based studies are beginning to emerge on how the Internet may alter the marketing management process. There is a need to compliment these studies with additional quantitative research. This study examines the influence of marketing style on the utilisation of the Internet among small UK manufacturing firms. Insufficient evidence was found to support the view that relationship‐orientated firms, when compared with transactionally‐orientated competitors, exhibit differing perceptions about the nature of online markets. Quantitative differences were identified, however, in relation to use of information management systems and the management of internal organisational processes. The implications of these findings are discussed and proposals made concerning the need for further research.

Online technologies have, in recent times, revolutionized the process of relationship building between firms and their customers. Nonetheless, there is a limited focus and theorization when it comes to explaining the link between online relationship marketing (ORM) activities and their impact on firm relationship marketing (RM) objectives. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the signaling role of ORM activities in generating online trust and customer loyalty, through the lens of the signaling theory.

Data for the study were gathered through a survey of 429 Ghanaian retail bank customers. Results were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques.

The paper highlights the signaling role of engagement and interactivity online in influencing banks’ RM outcomes per the signaling theory. It concludes that bank’s online relationship activities, over and above the online tools utilized, need to communicate appropriate and useful signals in order to positively influence online trust and loyalty among customers.

The study, in its uniqueness, utilizes the signaling theory to explain the role and impact of online RM activities in the banking industry.

This paper aims to evaluate and structure the basic heuristics consumers use in evaluating word-of-mouth (WOM) about luxury hotel brands while analyzing the impact of deception in online consumer reviews.

The research used a two-study mixed-methods approach, using interpersonal deception theory and social proof theory as lenses to conduct our analysis. For the first study, a qualitative conceptual mapping analysis was conducted, examining online consumer reviews to identify key concepts and their relationships in the context of luxury hotel brands. In the second study, the themes were further examined using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to analyze their causal complexity and association between variables to determine how they influence the perceived helpfulness of online reviews for luxury hotel brands.

The results underline the importance of functional, objective variables, such as the number of reviews and stars, as social proof heuristics and other factors, including clout, authenticity and analytic tone, as interpersonal communication heuristics. Therefore, consumers use a combination of social and interpersonal communication heuristics to extract information from reviews and manage deception risk.

The paper contributes to the consumer–brand relationship literature by assessing the heuristics consumers use in evaluating online reviews and provides additional information for research in online reputation management.

This study’s results can help marketing practitioners and brand managers manage their online reputations better. It can also aid managers in improving their messaging on hotel websites to entice consumers to complete bookings. Heuristics play an essential role in such messaging and understanding them can help marketers appeal directly to their target market.

This study contributes to the literature on consumer–brand relationships by providing a framework of heuristics that consumers use when evaluating luxury service brands and contributes to WOM and online reputation research by highlighting factors that may make online reviews more helpful.

The onset of Internet marketing is revolutionising marketing practice. Although growth in sales of goods and services online has been dramatic, very little research has addressed the factors that lead to the delivery of superior service and the creation of effective marketing relationships. This paper explores and defines two related constructs – service quality and relationship quality – to ascertain whether consumers can meaningfully distinguish between the constructs. The research uses focus groups and an online survey to address this issue. The paper finds that, although service quality and relationship quality are distinct constructs, they overlap in the area of personal interaction and problem solving. The key drivers for the delivery of superior service and the creation of an effective relationship are reliability and trust emanating from service quality and relationship quality respectively.

This paper aims to explore the moderating impact of four moderators, namely, retailer brand strength, customer’s perceived purchase regularity, gender and purchase channel (online and offline) on the relationship between relationship marketing investments (RMIs) and customer gratitude, and customer gratitude and customer loyalty. The context of research is the purchase of a high-involvement product by Indian customers.

This study adapts Huang RMIs-Gratitude-Loyalty model and empirically validates the associated hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Data is collected through the survey method.

The study (N = 385) results suggest a significant impact of preferential treatment and interpersonal communication investments on customer’s feeling of gratitude toward the retailer and, consequently, on loyalty. Purchase channel, gender and, to a lesser extent, customer perceived regularity each moderates the relationships between marketing investment and gratitude, and that between gratitude and loyalty; surprisingly, retailer brand is not a significant moderator.

Future research can factor in the impact of loyalty program on the proposed relationships.

This research offers helpful guidelines for retailers, especially for those who currently have a multichannel presence and invest or plan to invest in relationship marketing to obtain benefits from customer loyalty.

This investigation explores not only the relevance of RMIs–gratitude–loyalty model in the Indian retail context but also the influence of moderating variables on the retailers’ efforts of gaining consumer loyalty.

This paper aims to classify online banking customers using demographic and relationship‐based variables and describe their profiles.

A total of 421 panellists of a large Canadian polling firm self‐administered a web‐based questionnaire. A two‐step analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0. 421 panellists of a large Canadian polling firm self‐administered a web‐based questionnaire. A two‐step analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0.

Six groups emerged from the analysis, four of which have higher relationship levels and two that have lower levels.

This study provides a better understanding of online banking consumer segments and offer financial institutions relevant descriptive information on each profile. This information should help the implementation of tailored marketing strategies to improve the development and maintenance of online relationships with each of the six customer segments.

This paper contributes to knowledge advancement in both the fields of relationship marketing and that of e‐commerce by providing an overview of the characteristics of relational customers in the e‐banking industry.