Title: Relationship marketing model for the banking sector industry: an empirical analysis of commercial bank customers in Qatar

Authors: Ahmed Adel Elshenawy

Addresses: Doha Bank, P.O. Box 3818, West Bay, Doha, Qatar

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to create a relationship marketing model applicable for the Qatar banking sector industry based on loyal Arab customer's perspective. A mixed research approach was employed, in which a focus group interview was carried out in order to explore the research problem. Followed by, quantitative survey, where a self-administrated questionnaire with four hundred participants was carried out over a four-month period. The finding revealed that, relational bonds have no influence on the client emotions. The results provide strong evidence of the relationship between client emotions and relationship quality, which in turn both are vital determinants of client loyalty. Moreover, the study confirmed that, only structural bonds and social bonds are important elements in affecting the strength of the relationship quality. The finding of the research will provide the managers in the banking industry with valuable information to formulate their marketing strategy in order to achieve sustainable loyalty.

Keywords: relationship marketing; emotions; relationship quality; relational bonds; Qatar; banking industry; commercial banks; bank customers; customer loyalty; structural bonds; social bonds.

DOI: 10.1504/MEJM.2016.081086

Middle East Journal of Management, 2016 Vol.3 No.4, pp.309 - 329

Received: 18 Aug 2016
Accepted: 20 Aug 2016

Published online: 20 Dec 2016 *

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