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This paper provides a comparison of users and providers of third‐party logistics (3PL) services with respect to relationship marketing elements, such as trust and communication, as well as relationship marketing outcomes, such as retention and recovery.

Constructs for the relationship marketing elements and outcomes were derived from the extant literature and modified to reflect the nature of 3PL arrangements. The relevant data were collected from separate, but consistent, mail surveys that were sent to users of 3PL services as well as providers of 3PL services.

The results indicate statistically significant differences between 3PL users and providers across eight of nine relationship marketing elements, with the lone non‐significant comparison involving the communication construct. There are also statistically significant differences between 3PL users and providers for each of the four relationship marketing outcomes.

Although the present study utilized previously validated relationship marketing elements and outcomes, future research could examine other relationship marketing elements and outcomes. Future research could also investigate relationship marketing issues through dyads/matched pairs of 3PL users and providers.

This manuscript examines 3PL with respect to theories and/or frameworks that comes from outside the logistics discipline, an approach advocated by Stock. Moreover, the paper adds to Moore's 3PL/relationship marketing research by investigating relationship elements and outcomes. The current paper adds to the rather limited literature that incorporates both 3PL user and provider perspectives.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an ethical foundation for relationship marketing using a virtue ethics approach.

The approach is a conceptual one providing a background on relationship marketing from both American and European perspectives. Earlier studies published in EJM on relationship marketing are featured in a table.

The proposed ethical relationship marketing approach has three stages (establishing, sustaining and reinforcing) that are paired with specific virtues (trust, commitment and diligence). These and other facilitating virtues are shown in a figure.

The model and its components have yet to be tested empirically. Some strategies for undertaking such research are discussed.

Several European and American companies that currently practice ethical relationship marketing are discussed.

Although relationship marketing has been studied for a number of years by many scholars, the ethical basis of it has not been thoroughly examined in any previous work.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of corporate image and relationship marketing on trust, the impact of trust on consumer purchase intention, and the moderating effects of word‐of‐mouth between the influence of trust on consumer purchase intention.

Consumers of an online travel agency in Taiwan aged over 18 were taken as the research sample. Primary data were collected through convenience sampling. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

The main findings are: corporate image has a significantly positive influence on trust, and commodity image has the most significant influence on trust, followed by functional image and institution image; structural and financial relationship marketing has significantly positive influence on trust, and structural relationship marketing has greater influence on trust compared with financial relationship marketing; trust has a significantly positive influence on consumer purchase intention; and positive word‐of‐mouth has a moderating effect between the influences of trust on consumer purchase intention.

Limitations of this study include: the data obtained in this study only reflected the correlations and cause and effect among the variables studied during a specific period of time; this paper only focused on tour agencies; consumers who used only the most popular online tour agencies were selected. Therefore, the samples might involve some bias. The implications of this study include: different types of corporate image will have different levels of influence on consumer trust. There is a need to support the previous study that relationship marketing has a significantly positive influence on consumer trust. The moderating effects of positive word‐of‐mouth between the influences of trust on consumer purchase intention must be examined. The influence of trust on purchase intention must be considered.

The study findings reveal the need and importance for a company to improve corporate image continuously. The study indicates the need to emphasize the use of critical relationship marketing and to realize the nature and importance of the moderating effect of word‐of‐mouth.

The value of this study is combined theory and practical and finding four management implications and three practical implications.

The current work demonstrates how relationship marketing (RM) application in cultures of low power distance, collectivism, femininity, high uncertainty avoidance, and long‐term orientation, can bring about customer’s repeat purchase, customer retention and sustained loyalty via superior customer value delivery. The paper also shows the moderation and mediation effects of trust, equity, empathy, and commitment, which are the underpinnings of a relationship as well as important values in the above cultures. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

This paper explores the adoption of a relationship marketing paradigm by the National Basketball Association. A contextualist framework was used to explore the context, content and processes of this change that evolved over a 17-year time period. Personal interviews were conducted with leaders of this league and over 80 documents were reviewed and content analyzed. The results of this study provide insights into relationship marketing and organizational change for sport managers.

Develops a model which integrates the development of marketing relationships with marketing communication practice. Especially within the realm of relationship marketing thinking, communication may be understood as an act of persuasion. Using three classical rhetorical elements, we may see this process as developing an understanding of the communicator’s intentions and qualities (ethos) and the communication climate (pathos), both of which are necessary for engaging in constructive dialogues with customers (logos). On this basis, the paper outlines a model for integrating practices of marketing communication with relationship building and illustrates the model using a case study from a Danish bank as a reflective device.

The introduction of regulated competition in health care in several Western countries confronts health care providing organizations with changing relationships, with their environment and a need for knowledge and skills to analyse and improve their market position. Marketing receives more and more attention, as recent developments in this field of study provide a specific perspective on the relationships between an organization and external and internal parties. In doing so, a basis is offered for network management. A problem is that the existing marketing literature is not entirely appropriate for the specific characteristics of health care. After a description of the developments in marketing and its most recent key concepts, the applicability of these concepts in health‐care organizations is discussed. States that for the health‐care sector, dominated by complex networks of interorganizational relationships, the strategic marketing vision on relationships can be very useful. At the same time however, the operationalization of these concepts requires special attention and a distinct role of the management of health‐care organizations, because of the characteristics of such organizations and the specific type of their service delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to establish relationship marketing practice aspects, their prevalence and opportunities in Lithuanian logistics organizations.

By applying a standardized questionnaire, Lithuanian logistics organizations were examined. Mostly executives, organizations' owners and logistics specialists were key informants.

The findings indicated that cooperation is a fundamental element in the organizations. Depending on the developed relationship type in the organizations the significance attached to relationship marketing elements differ, level of satisfaction of long‐term relationship different too.

A suggestion for further research is to adapt the study in other Lithuanian industries business relationships.

This study is of managerial interest, as the framework may be applied by logistics organizations and if necessary modified considering the main aspects of customer relationships.

This paper makes a contribution to relationship marketing aspects and customer management analysis in Lithuanian logistics organizations.

The study sought to examine the influence of social media resources on export performance and the role commitment and trust play in this relationship using an integrated model.

A quantitative survey design was employed for this study. Empirical data for this paper were drawn from 210 exporting firms in Ghana, using purposive sampling technique. The hypothesized links were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The result of this study reveals that social media resources and marketing capabilities directly influence export performance and indirectly through commitment and trust.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to attempt to use an integrated model (resource-based view and commitment-trust theory) to understand and explain an international marketing phenomenon. By concentrating on Ghana, the study offers new insights regarding the pathway for exporting firms in emerging markets.