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Introduction
Direct marketing has matured into an increasingly exact and complex science requiring knowledgeable and experienced practitioners. More and more marketers are convinced that they need to develop closer relationships with their customers in order to achieve behavioural loyalty. This paper explores the complementary effect of relationship marketing with direct marketing and draws attention to the foundations of direct marketing that can be enhanced by relationship marketing principles.
Relationship marketing
Relationship marketing is a term introduced by [2] Berry (1983) that puts forward that marketers should move away from transactional marketing and build longer term relationships with their customers, focusing on building trust between buyer and seller so that loyalty develops. As a concept, there is little that can be faulted; after all, isn't that what all businesses want, loyal customers with whom they want a long relationship?
The idea of relationship marketing was developed by [9] Gronroos (1994) whose opinion was that relationship marketing was all about identifying, establishing, maintaining, enhancing and, occasionally, terminating relationships with customers. The objective of such relationships, he suggested, is to give mutual benefit through the exchange and fulfilment of promises as well as communication. He went on to say that relationship marketing is the result of applying a set of processes involving interaction, communication, dialogue and value ([10] Gronroos, 2000). Over the last 20 years, relationship marketing has been espoused by many in the services and industrial arenas, where it is, perhaps, easier to developer longer term relationships.
The acquisition, retention and nurturing of customer relationships is fundamental to an organisation engaging in relationship marketing. Nurturing the customer is a step along the path to invoking loyalty on the part of the customer. Loyalty is one of the objectives of relationship marketing because a loyal customer may be of strategic advantage to an organisation.
Direct marketing
Direct marketing has a much longer history, originating from organisations selling their products directly using a catalogue and mail-order. Much of the attraction of buying this way came from the credit facilities that such companies offered as well as the convenience of shopping from home and receiving one's purchases through the mail. From these rather humble beginnings, direct marketing has metamorphosed into a complex science that involves collecting data on customers, storing...