The foundations of relationship marketing: reciprocity and trade relations

In this paper I examine relationship marketing from an historical perspective. As a predominantly industrial marketing strategy, reciprocity was adopted by numerous organizations and discussed in detail by marketing scholars from the 1920s until the late 1970s, and these debates indicate that reciprocity was largely relationship marketing orientated in nature. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, reciprocity had fallen into disrepute. In its place arose 'trade relations' and trade relations management. Reciprocity was marginalized, this paper documents, due to the focus of the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department and the Supreme Court on a number of prominent cases of anticompetitive reciprocity. From trade relations, debates pertaining to 'corporate diplomacy', 'diplomatic marriage brokers', 'business relations' and relationship marketing developed.