Comprehension of relationship quality in the retail environment

Purpose - After almost a decade of relationship quality studies in the retail industry, high consensus exists regarding the dimensions that define the construct. Disregarding epistemological depth of the concept of commitment, however, has led only to its unidimensional operationalization. To improve the retail relationship quality operationalization, this paper seeks to provide theoretical and empirical support that calculative and emotional commitment should be included as dimensions of relationship quality in addition to trust and satisfaction in the retail environment. Design/methodology/approach - Cross-sectional telephone interviews with members of a retail loyalty club were conducted in two waves. The first wave included 116 respondents to purify the measurement instrument. The second wave included 416 respondents to estimate the parameters in SEM. Findings - Empirical findings suggest that in the retail environment, relationship quality as a second-order factor influences emotional commitment, calculative commitment, and a combined construct of trust and satisfaction. Research limitations/implications - The research is limited to members of a single do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer's loyalty club. Cross-retail industry and cross-country testing could potentially improve the proposed scale for measuring relationship quality in the retail sector. Practical implications - Although relatively abstract in its higher-order factor formation for daily managerial purposes, the paper attempts to discuss managerial implications from the retail point of view in a comprehensive and readable manner. By narrowing the focus to a particular sector and selected dimensions of the construct, the paper helps increase understanding of the central construct of relationship marketing to the managerial sphere. Originality/value - An important contribution of this paper lies in the selection of dimensions that reflect the relationship quality construct in the retail environment; more specifically, the selection of calculative and emotional commitment. An historical overview of relationship quality studies in consumer markets also provides an opportunity to improve comprehension of the phenomena.