The concept of relationship self-regulation (RSR) has been shown to be related to relationship satisfaction, yet the differences in RSR ability based on couple type have yet to be examined. This study compared first married, remarried, and cohabiting individuals on their self-reported ability to implement RSR in their relationship, along with their report of satisfaction, positive communication, and negative communication in their relationships. Data was derived from 6,591 participants who were part of the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) questionnaire data set. Multiple Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) statistics were used, and results showed that while mean differences in RSR were small across couple types, remarrieds reported significantly lower RSR levels than any other group, while first marrieds reported significantly higher RSR levels than any other group. Implications for relationship education programs and couple therapy are discussed with particular emphasis placed on ensuring that RSR related programs are being delivered to remarried individuals and couples.

Relationship self-regulation (RSR) refers to the “work”, or effort and strategies, that partners exert over time to maintain the health of their romantic relationships. Most research focuses on self-reports of RSR, however, several studies suggest that partner perceptions are more influential in relationship appraisal. In addition, most RSR research has focused not on partners' attitudes and virtues like commitment, but instead on personality traits, emotional health, and communication skills. In this study, we examine the relationship between partners' levels of commitment and forgiveness within their relationships, and how they perceive their partner's use of RSR behaviors. Using paired data from 679 cohabiting and married couples who took the RELATE questionnaire, we found that males' and females' self-reports of commitment and forgiveness were both positively associated with higher perceptions of partner RSR. Likewise, we found that, for females, higher self-reports of commitment and forgiveness were positively correlated with higher male perceptions of her RSR, and male forgiveness was positively correlated with female perceptions of his RSR. The variables of commitment and forgiveness explained an average of 44% of the variance in perceptions of partner RSR for both genders. Implications for future research and clinicians are discussed.

Researchers and clinicians have long recognized that therapeutic relationships play a fundamental role in client symptom change during treatment. At the same time, it has been proposed that improvement in client symptoms is associated with improvement in therapeutic relationships. To date, very few studies have investigated this reciprocal relationship; even fewer have examined group therapeutic relationship factors. The present study is an archival analysis on Group Questionnaire (GQ) (i.e., positive bond, positive work, and negative relationship) and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45) data that aims to analyze the reciprocal relationship between group therapeutic relationships and client symptom change. More specifically, this study replicates and expands upon pioneer studies in this area (i.e., Tasca & Lampard, 2012; Tasca et al., 2016b; Obeid et al., 2018). Various analyses were used to address the proposed research questions (i.e., bivariate cross-lagged panel model (CLPM), latent growth curve model with structured residuals (LGC-SR), latent change score model with change-to-change coupling (LCS-CC), and three-level multilevel models). Results indicate weak evidence of a reciprocal relationship between group therapeutic relationships and client symptom change. Further, results indicate that therapeutic relationship quality is more dominant in predicting client symptoms change compared to the reciprocal. Evidence of this was found for each subscale of the GQ as it assessed various aspects of group therapeutic relationships (i.e., positive bond, positive work, negative relationship). These results highlight the importance of group therapeutic relationships in explaining outcome.

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This thesis aims to explore what and how Swedish micro firms use digital media towards relationship initiation in a Business-to-Business (B2B) context. Digital media has been increasingly studied in marketing over time, but it has been predominated by Business-to- Customer (B2C) context, while the Business-to-Business context lacks attention, micro B2B firms even less in particular. Moreover, previous studies show that micro B2B firms lack knowledge of how to leverage digital media and thus they have not fully exploited the benefits in relationship marketing. Therefore, this thesis anticipates gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon of digital media use by micro B2B firms towards customer relationships and focuses on the initiation stage due to its importance in the relationship marketing process as well as the limited knowledge in existing literature.  This thesis employs a qualitative and multi-case study approach to explore the focal phenomenon. Four micro companies which have less than 10 employees from the life science industryparticipate in the empirical study. The data comes from semi-structured interviews and observation of their websites and social media accounts. Each firm has conducted two interviews. The data analysis follows the Gioia methodology, including within case and across cases analysis, as well as the theory elaboration study.  This study shows that Swedish micro B2B firms rely on their own websites, email, and social media mainly LinkedIn to communicate with potential customers, hence fostering relationship initiation. These digital media have been used to trigger the interest of potential customers, establish credibility by knowledge sharing, and create value. The findings contribute to the literature by extending the knowledge of what and how digital media is used by micro B2B firms towards relationship initiation. They are in line with extant literature showing that digital media enables companies to attract customers, engage their participation, and meet as well as provide services online. In addition, they confirm that digital media can enhance their trustworthiness due to increased communication and interaction. Furthermore, the findings identify the processive process of the case firms and their potential customers from unfamiliarity to relationship initiation, which illustrates three levels of interactivity in sequence: message-based level, knowledge-based level, and participant-based level. The progress of interactivity indicates the development of the trust of potential customers.  This thesis sheds light on what digital media micro B2B firms use and how to use towards relationship initiation with unfamiliar potential customers. Also, it provides insights into how micro B2B firms could establish and increase their trustworthiness in the market. Additionally, this thesis extends the managerial implications to the society and other stakeholders.

The housing deal is one of the biggest deals made in life where a lot of money and emotions are involved. It is about a special business in which the real estate agent has an important role. The real estate profession is a profession of trust that largely is about building customer relationships. The profession includes a lot of customer contact and customer interaction, hence the customer relationships are important. As the real estate profession differs from other sales professions and there are not many studies in the real estate brokerage industry, we feel that there is a knowledge gap to fill. As customer relationships are important for real estate agents, it is of interest to study what relationship building looks like in the industry. Based on general studies on relationship building, it appears that trust, customer loyalty and personal qualities are influencing factors. The purpose of the thesis is to increase understanding of what relationship building looks like in the real estate brokerage industry. Furthermore, we want to understand how real estate agents work to create customer loyalty. In addition, there has been a change in the gender distribution structure in the real estate brokerage industry in recent decades. In other sales industries where this change has also occurred, it has resulted in a transformation in relationship building. Due to this, a gender perspective on relationship building will also be considered. In the study, a qualitative method has been applied where the empirical material was collected via eight interviews with real estate agents in Karlstad. The respondents have answered open-ended questions about their relationship building and have described their experiences of the gender perspective in the real estate brokerage industry. The empirical material describes relationship styles, customer loyalty, character traits and gender perspectives in the industry. Furthermore, an analysis and discussion has been carried out where connections to theories of relationship building have been made. The study's conclusion shows that there are two relationship styles that dominate among real estate agents. Furthermore, trust and confidence prove to be essential for achieving customer loyalty, where knowledge, safety, clarity, and commitment have reappeared as value-creating factors. In addition to trust and confidence, communication was also a contributing factor to customer satisfaction and thus customer loyalty. Finally, the results indicate that gender has a certain impact as potential differences in relationship building have been discovered. / Bostadsaffären är en av de största affärerna som görs i livet där mycket pengar och känslor är inblandade. Det handlar om en speciell affär där fastighetsmäklaren har en viktig roll. Fastighetsmäklaryrket är ett förtroendeyrke som till stor del handlar om att bygga kundrelationer. Yrket innefattar mycket kundkontakt och kundinteraktion, därav är kundrelationerna av stor vikt. Då fastighetsmäklaryrket skiljer sig från andra säljyrken och det inte finns särskilt mycket studier i fastighetsmäklarbranschen, upplever vi att det finns en kunskapslucka att fylla. I och med att kundrelationer är betydelsefulla för fastighetsmäklare är det av intresse att studera hur relationsbyggandet ser ut i branschen. Utifrån generella studier om relationsbyggande framgår det att förtroende, kundlojalitet och personliga egenskaper är påverkande faktorer. Syftet med uppsatsen är att öka förståelsen för hur relationsbyggandet ser ut i fastighetsmäklarbranschen. Vidare vill vi förstå hur fastighetsmäklare arbetar för att skapa kundlojalitet. Fortsättningsvis har det skett en förändrad struktur i könsfördelningen inom fastighetsmäklarbranschen under de senaste decennierna. I andra säljbranscher där denna förändring även skett, har det resulterat i en omvandling i relationsbyggandet. Med anledning av detta kommer ett genusperspektiv på relationsbyggande även tas i beaktning. I studien har en kvalitativ metod tillämpats där det empiriska materialet samlats in via åtta intervjuer med fastighetsmäklare i Karlstad. Respondenterna har besvarat öppna frågor om deras relationsbyggandet samt har beskrivit deras upplevelser av genusperspektivet i fastighetsmäklarbranschen. Det empiriska materialet redogör för relationsstilar, kundlojalitet, karaktärsdrag och genusperspektiv inom branschen. Vidare har en analys och diskussion genomförts där kopplingar till teorier om relationsbyggande har gjorts. Studiens slutsats visar på att det finns två relationsstilar som dominerar bland fastighetsmäklare. Vidare visar resultatet att förtroende och tillit är väsentligt för att uppnå kundlojalitet, där kunskap, trygghet, tydlighet och engagemang återkommit som värdeskapande faktorer. Utöver förtroende och tillit var även kommunikation en bidragande faktor till kundnöjdhet och därmed kundlojalitet. Slutligen tyder resultatet på att könsroller har en viss påverkan då eventuella skillnader i relationsbyggande har upptäckts.

En omfattande transformering av marknadsmiljön har bidragit till funderingar och frågor gällande om kundrelationshantering är tillräckligt utvecklat för att hänga med i digitaliseringens framfart och lever upp till dagens konsumentförväntningar. Den litteratur som finns påvisar trots allt en hög grad av misslyckande relaterat till implementering av kundrelationshantering. Teori kring varför misslyckanden uppstår är dock bristfällig, men befintlig litteratur pekar på att bristfällig förståelse gällande framväxande teknologi kan vara en bidragande orsak. Syftet med studien är att förstå hur digitaliseringen påverkar kundens informationssökning och vad detta kan få för konsekvenser på relationen till säljaren. För att kunna besvara syftet genomfördes en empirisk undersökning baserad på en kvalitativ design där fem köpare och fem säljare inom bilbranschen intervjuades.  Resultatet påvisar att det digitala informationsflödet bidrar till att det för kunden har blivit bekvämare att söka och hitta information. En aspekt som till följd av digitaliseringen visat sig vara den avgörande faktorn gällande utformningen av kundens externa informationssökning. Resultatet påvisar dock att kunden i större utsträckning uppfattar osäkerhet och risk om information hämtas från internet, detta på grund av svårigheten att avgöra vad för information som är korrekt. Studien bidrar till ett förtydligande gällande kundrelationshanteringens utformning för att bekräfta dagens konsumentförväntningar i och med en digitalisering av marknadsmiljön. Hanteringen av säljarens relation till kunden bör utformas som konsulterande med fokus på informationsbekräftelse och rådgivning. Relationen till säljaren är viktig för kunden, men ur ett kognitivt anseende snarare än ett affektivt. / An extensive transformation of the market environment has contributed to reflections and questions regarding whether customer relationship management is sufficiently developed to keep up with the progress of digitization and live up to today’s consumer expectations. Nevertheless, the existing literature demonstrates a high degree of failure related to the implementation of customer relationship management. However, theory around why failures occur is lacking, but existing literature points to a lack of understanding regarding emerging technology as a contributing cause. The purpose of the study is to understand how digitization affects the customer’s search for information and what consequences this may have on the relationship with the seller. In order to answer the purpose, an empirical investigation based on a qualitative design was carried out where five buyers and five sellers from the car dealer industry were interviewed. Results demonstrate that the digital information flow contributes to the fact that it has become more convenient for the customer to search and find information. An aspect which, as a result of digitization, has proven to be the decisive factor regarding the design of the customer’s external information search. The results show, however, that the customer perceives uncertainty and risk to a greater extent if information is obtained from the internet, this due to the difficulty in determining what information is correct. The study contributes to a clarification regarding the design of customer relationship management in order to confirm today’s consumer expectations with a digitization of the market environment. The handling of the seller’s relationship with the customer should be designed as consulting with a focus on information confirmation and guidance. The relationship with the seller is important to the customer, but from a cognitive rather than an affective perspective.

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