Using customer contact centres as relationship marketing instruments

Abstract

This article investigates whether, to what extent and how customer contact centres influence customer-firm relationships through customer contact centre quality. The proposed model compiles direct and indirect effects of this form of quality on focal relationship marketing constructs, including customer satisfaction, trust, affective commitment and customer loyalty. A survey of 1,589 customers of three service firms in different industries provides a test of the model. The results indicate that customer contact centre quality is a relational instrument with a positive, direct influence on relationship quality. Its substantial positive effect on customer loyalty is indirect, mediated by relationship quality.