Intention to Continue Relationship in B to B Setting – Case of Guinness Ghana Breweries – Some Preliminary Findings

ABSTRACT

Relationship marketing serves the purpose of building a long-term relationship with business partners in order to minimize switching behavior and increase intention to continue business. This study assessed the relationships between relationship marketing practices of trust, commitment, relative dependence, customer satisfaction and perceived value as drivers to intention to continue business relationships under a B2B setting of GGCL. Hypotheses based on the literature were formulated. The study was a descriptive survey, and using convenience sampling techniques, data was collected from 248 businesses who were distributors of GGCL using questionnaire. The study findings demonstrated that a positive and significant relationship exists between commitment and intention to continue business, relative dependence and intention to continue business, customer satisfaction and intention to continue business, and distributor perceived value and intention to continue business. However, trust was found not to be significantly related intention to continue business uniquely, unless it was joined to other variables. Based on the findings, relative dependence was identified as an important antecedent of intention to continue business. Key relationship marketing strategies used by GGCL were identified to include customer engagement, interactivity, online trust, customer loyalty, advocacy, affective commitment and personalization. Customer engagement was the most agreed strategy according to the respondents, which makes it possible for the company to provide helpful information on Guinness’s social media link. The study recommends that GGCL should seek to increase distributors’ dependence by improving communications and making some relationship-specific investments.