Antecedents and consequences of relationship quality among Malaysians online entrepreneurs

Relationship marketing has been viewed as being imperative to the success of business firms in line with the growing understanding that acquiring new customers is far more expensive than maintaining existing ones. In response to this, relationship quality plays a vital role in shaping the business relationship. Hence, this study aimed to examine the influence of antecedent factors such as service quality, service recovery, price fairness, relationship benefits and relational dependence on online entrepreneurs’ relationship quality. Furthermore, this study examined two consequences of relationship quality, namely customer retention and word-of-mouth. A research framework was established based on existing literature to test the relationship among these variables. The Social Exchange Theory was employed to explain the relationship between the variables being studied. In order to empirically test the research framework of this study, data were collected by employing a survey instrument. In conducting this research, online entrepreneurs were selected using the simple random sampling technique. A total of 351 questionnaires were distributed to online entrepreneurs, out of which 117 were returned, representing a 32% response rate. The data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and PLS-SEM to test the hypotheses. The results from the structural model supported the hypothesized paths; service quality, price fairness, and relationship benefits influenced relationship quality. Furthermore, the hypothesized path maintained that customer retention and word- of- mouth were the consequences of relationship quality. However, the hypothesized path for service recovery influencing relationship quality and relational dependence influencing relationship quality were not supported. Based on these findings, the implications, limitations of the study and future directions are discussed.