Why is there a need for relationship marketing in telecommunication sector UK?

By

Acknowledgement

No words can express my appreciation and gratitude to my research advisor _______ through the course of this research, Professor _____has taught me numerous values that extend well beyond the realm of _________ (Your Subject Name). His emphasis on dedication to work and his valuable and practical insights of life are some of the major highlights of my education at The University _________. To Professor _____, I say with great respect, thank you very much.

Declaration

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for the academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Table of Contents

AcknowledgementII

DeclarationIII

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW1

History of relationship marketing1

Introduction2

Overview of the Telecom Sector2

Relationship marketing4

Relationship marketing theory4

Service-Dominant (S- D)logic5

Characteristics of Relationship Marketing8

Long-term Orientation8

Commitment and Fulfilment of Promises8

Customer Share instead of Market Share9

Customer Lifetime Value9

Two-way dialogue10

Customisation10

Benefits of Relationship Marketing11

Benefits for the Suppliers11

Benefits for Customers11

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY13

Chapter Overview13

Overview of the interpretivism approach to research13

The reflexive process of analysis13

Ethnography and positivism14

Phenomenology15

Research Design and Rationale16

Case Study17

Research tool to be utilized17

Semi-structured in-depth interviews18

Secondary data collection18

Role of Researcher19

Interview participants19

Inclusion and exclusion criteria19

Data collection techniques20

Ethical considerations20

Informed Consent20

Confidentiality21

References22

Appendices24

Appendix A: Informed consent and participation letter24

Appendix B: Ethics Approval Form26

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

History of relationship marketing

In the 1990s, the topic of relationship marketing became a topic of great interests to both marketing scholars and marketing practitioners. In the increasingly mature and complex markets, in which organizations are now operating, building relationships and sustaining them are no more important than customer acquisition (Jagdish, 2000).

In the United Kingdom, the interest in relationship marketing evolved through the research that was carried out in the United States and in other parts of Europe. It has been argued that the need of relationship marketing in the 1980's was not actual discovery, but it came as a rediscovery of an approach that has long proved to be the secret of many successful businesses. Relationship marketing has been described as a “new-old concept,” (Berry, 1995), and there are many historical antecedents to describe the modern relationship marketing (Gronroos 1994, 1996). Many researchers have pointed out the need to market to existing customers (Berry, 1995; Sheth & Parvatiyar, 1995). However, although, many of the ideas behind relationship marketing have been addressed before but not under the modern title of “Relationship marketing”, the topic of relationship marketing has been did not get enough attention in the pre-1990s marketing literature (Jagdish, 2000). However, some special issues in relationship marketing have been published in the academic literature, like in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences(fall 1995), the Asia-Australia Marketing Journal (issue 1, 1994, and issue 1, 1997), Industrial Marketing Management (issue 2, 1997).

An indicator of the increasing need of relationship marketing in the United Kingdom is the extent to which books and edited works on the topic have appeared in the past few ...