The purpose of the literature review is to present background knowledge pertaining to the research constructs, loyalty as the dependent variable and relationship quality and marketing mix as the independent variables and perceived marketplace uncertainty as the moderating variable. The literature review also provides an overview of reported relationships between these constructs. The development of the theoretical framework and subsequent hypothesis are presented at the end of the literature review
Loyalty has received considerable attention in marketing literature for many years due to its importance, notably its powerful impact on a company’s performance (Lam, Shankar, Erramilli and Murthy 2004, Rauyruen and Miller 2006, Duffy 2003, Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 1996, Kotler and Keller 2006)
Companies gain a steady stream of revenue from loyal customers who remain with them and rejecting overtures of competitors. Considering this with the nature of large purchase and transactions in a B2B setting, there are gigantic rewards for those suppliers who succeed in creating and maintaining loyal customers. (Rauyruen and Miller, 2006)
Competitive advantage is gained due to high levels of cooperative actions beneficial to both partners in a B2B relationship, thus enhancing the competitiveness of both partners and reducing transaction costs. (Lam et al. 2004)
Companies gain measurable results in positive financial results. Obvious measures are increase in profits and increase in share of customers. (Duffy 2003)
In a similar vein, Zeithmal et al 1996 measures the financial importance of customer loyalty via defection and retention. In defection, the high cost of r