This research questions whether homophily or "sameness" within the advertising agency positively or negatively impacts the black owned advertising agency's ability to build client relationships, expand business related to their perceived expertise, or expand business not related to their perceived expertise. Why study black owned advertising agencies? The case of black advertising agency owners provides a particularly compelling context in which to understand homophily and its impact on relationship marketing. Historically, black advertising entrepreneurs have been marginalized to the black consumer market, which was a reflection of black American citizens' struggle for civil and labor rights. This research seeks to understand whether this historical sameness in ownership, employees, and consumer target negatively or positively impacts 21st century black advertising agency owners' ability to build broader relationships to sustain or grow their businesses. In depth interviews were conducted to understand this issue. Respondents revealed the aspects of homophily or sameness that were important to their relationship marketing activities, the pursuit and development of their advertising agency, employee hiring, and mentoring. This research not only revealed the types of white dominate group bias the respondents experienced, but just as important, revealed in-group or black-on-black bias in the advertising industry as well. / text

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

Relationship marketing is an important part of the development of brands. The following report conceives the role of relationship marketing and how brands can use social networks as a key for unlocking a relationship with their consumer. This report presents the managerial implications on relationship marketing, the importance of dialogue, and social media. This report is for marketers to understand the importance of initiating, developing and maintaining a relationship with consumers and translate the concepts so that brands can successfully apply them into social networks. / text

When firms are doing business it is important to meet the customer’s expectations. It is often in the first impression (the first time the parties meet in a sales encounter) that the seller fails to do this, sometimes resulting in the prospective customer dropping the whole thought of a business deal and no further relationship is established. The first impression results from the first image and understanding a seller creates in a potential customer: here the latter gets a brief insight into the former’s organization, credibility and overall quality. Each encounter or meeting is an opportunity to achieve trust and build a relationship, but also contains the risk of reducing credibility and losing all chances of a relationship. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the importance of the first impression when creating and building a business to business relationship and to describe the factors which influence this process. The theoretical framework is based on theories regarding the concept of first impression and the implications of two-way communication during the first encounter. These include the seller’s preparation and categorisation of the customer before each encounter. Other variations of communication concerns verbal and non-verbal communication, generalizations, cultural differences and circumstances where a failure can turn into an advantage. The present qualitative case study is based on interviews with five highly competent respondents with long experience of business relationships. They were chosen after discussions with Walter Carvajal, owner and MD of City Guest Service. The results showed that the first impression was very important in creating a business relationship. Some variables, e.g. gender, had less significance. Generally, the first impression included the small things a person perceived and interpreted during the first encounter. Combined, they determined whether a person chose to do business with the counterpart in question. All aspects of verbal and non-verbal commu-nication formed a basis for judging the other person. Cultural differences increased the acceptance level, reducing the risk of failure, when the parties were from differ-ent cultures.

Problem: Facebook is the most frequent and most used Social Media of our time. Facebook shapes new opportunities in communication and collaboration between companies and consumers that have not been possible before. Facebook is a marketing channel that gives companies an easy and free way of sharing fast information and communication online. However, Facebook’s main purpose is to maintain and create relationships online. Researchers say that in order to have a long-term relationship with loyal consumers, trust is needed. Therefore, it is interesting for companies to know the important variables that can create trust on Facebook. Trust generates loyalty and long-lasting relationship that in turn guarantee an income over time. The strengthening the relationship over Facebook is a free and fast way of creating these benefits to a company. Purpose: This study investigates important variables in the trust building process between companies and consumers on Facebook. We also explore how trust can be created in the relationship trough the companies Facebook activities. The thesis contains a case study of three different companies that use Facebook as a marketing channel. The reason behind the case study was to explore how these companies work to create trust. Methodology: The study is qualitative research and is based on three existent cases. In-depth interviews and observations of Swedish companies were the two methodologies used. Conclusions: The Facebook-Trust model was developed and represent how trust can be created through over Facebook. Companies can use the Facebook-Trust model in order to create trust in the relationship with the consumer. The case study revealed that the companies did not work according to the model. Companies are not aware of that they can create trust on Facebook. Therefore, the Facebook-Trust model is useful for the companies in this study.

Background: The expansion of the Internet has created nearly endless possibilities for innovations in regards to the e-commerce environment. However, as new technologies emerges, so do the competition on the market. The online gambling industry is not an exception to this notion, characterized by numerous providers with more or less identical market offerings. In order to create competitive advantage to ensure economical growth, a need for customer retention instead of acquisition has been identified. Research question: How can the utilization of relationship marketing foster long-lasting and value-bonded relationships between an online gambling company and its customers? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of relationship marketing and its endorsement in the process of creating long-lasting and value-bonded relationships, and how the concept can be utilized by online gambling companies. The purpose will be achieved by examining,  how online services correlates with online gambling services, and  in which way online gambling companies are actuating the concept of relationship marketing, and  by mapping values which active customers in the industry desires when gambling online. Method: The applied methodology is based on an inductive approach in coherence with the qualitative research method. The primary data which aims to enable the achievement of the stated purpose have been collected through the conducting of three focus groups consisting of online gambling customers in addition to a individual interview representing the online gambling industry perspective. Conclusion: The findings from the empirical data have identified that the online gambling customer has hard to identify the very purpose of a potential relationship with an online gambling company. However, much of the value strived for by the customer can be generated by the successful implementation of an relationship marketing approach. Hence, relationship marketing can be a useful approach for online gambling companies in order to foster long-term and value-bonded relationships, with the simple understanding that the approach itself can generate desired customer values, and that relationships as such does not represent a value strived by the online gambling customer. Suggestion for further research: See section 5.2 page 58 Keywords: Services, Online gambling industry, Relationship marketing, Customer value

I den konkurrensutsatta bankmarknaden har det blivit viktigare att utveckla kundrelationerna då det är ett bra sätt att differentiera sig från varandra. Avsikten med studien är att förklara och analysera vilken inverkan demografiska faktorer har på lojalitet. I teorin har det framförts en presentation på relationsmarknadsföring och dennes betydelse i dagens samhälle. Efteråt har vi utifrån tidigare forskning beskrivit oberoende variabler som kundnöjdhet, förtroende, kommunikation, engagemang, kompetens och beroende variabeln kundlojalitet. Därefter har en presentation av demografiska faktorerna kön, ålder, inkomst och kultur framförts. Dessa faktorer har varit basen för utveckling av vår undersökningsmodell. Utifrån teorin har vi uppmärksammat att tidigare forskare har kommit fram till att kommunikation är en viktig variabel för både förtroendet och lojaliteten. Även nöjdheten och engagemang har i deras undersökningar ett signifikant samband med lojaliteten. Studien har använt sig av deduktiv ansats och utifrån en positivistisk synvinkel. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvantitativ undersökning genom enkätfrågor. Dessa frågor har baserats på tidigare forskning och tilldelats 130 studenter på Malmö högskola vid två olika tillfällen. Analysen har framförts genom statistiska tester i SPSS. Inledningsvis analyserades vilken tillförlitlighet studien har och det visade sig att alla faktorer förutom kompetensen hade hög reliabilitet. Därefter kan vi genom korrelationstestet se att förtroende, nöjdhet, engagemang, kommunikation har en positiv korrelation till kundlojalitet. Studiens sista test var regressionsanalys som prövade vilka faktorer som har ett signifikant samband med kundlojaliteten. Det visade sig att alla faktorer förutom kompetens hade ett signifikant samband med kundlojalitet. Faktorerna slogs samman till en gemensam variabel; kundlojalitet. Detta gjordes i syfte att jämföra hur demografiska faktorer påverkar kundlojaliteten hos studenter. Det resultera i att endast kön var den faktor som hade en signifikant skillnad vilket innebär att den påverkar kundlojalitet. Kultur, ålder och inkomst hade ingen signifikant skillnad. Vi kunde även utläsa att skillnaderna i medelvärde var för små mellan de olika grupperna mot variabeln kundlojalitet / In the highly competitive banking market, it has become more important to develop customer relationships where it is a good way to differentiate themselves from each other. The purpose of the study is to explain and analyze the impact demographic factors have on loyalty. In theory there has been a presentation on relationship marketing and its importance in today's society. Afterwards we have based on previous research described independent variables as customer satisfaction, trust, communication, commitment, competence and dependent variable customer loyalty. Since then, a presentation of demographic factors gender, age, income, and culture have been made. These factors have been the basis for the development of our research model. In theory, we have drawn attention to the fact that previous researchers have come to the conclusion that communication is an important variable for both trust and loyalty. Also satisfaction and commitment in their studies have a significant relationship with the loyalty. The study has used the deductive approach and based on a positive point of view. The study has been carried out with the help of a quantitative study by survey. These questions have been based on previous research and assigned to 130 students at the Malmo University at two different times. The analysis has been made by means of statistical tests in SPSS. Initially the study has analyzed the reliability and it appeared that all of the factors except competence had high reliability. Then we can see that by correlation test trust, satisfaction, commitment, communication has a positive correlation to customer loyalty. The last test was regression analysis which tested the factors which have a significant relationship with customer loyalty. It was found that all the factors except competence had a significant relationship with customer loyalty. Factors were combined into a single variable; customer loyalty. This was done in order to compare how demographic factors affect customer loyalty among students. The result was that gender was the only factor that had a significant difference which means that it affects customer loyalty. Culture, age and income had no significant difference. because difference in average was too low to detect an impact on customer loyalty. We could also show that the differences in the mean were small between the different groups with the variable customer loyalty.

Marketers use relationship marketing in order to establish mutually beneficial long-term relationships with their customers as a means to retain these customers in the competitive market environment. Relationship marketing should, however, not be used to target each and every customer as not all customers want to build long-term relationships with organisations. In order to identify the most profitable customers to target through relationship marketing, organisations should consider their customers' relationship intentions to form long-term relationships with them. The primary objective of this study was to determine young adults' (aged 18 to 25) relationship intentions towards the South African cell phone network providers they use, namely Vodacom, MTN or Cell C. This was done by considering the five constructs used to measure relationship intention, namely involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss. A focus group was used to determine which features related to cell phone network providers young adults consider when selecting a cell phone network provider. This data was used to develop a self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed among respondents studying at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University in the North-West Provirice. A convenience (non­ probability) sampling method was used and a total of 315 respondents participated in this study. The distribution between the cell phone network providers was Vodacom (115), MTN (101) and Cell C (99). Initial data analysis revealed that 73% of respondents had high relationship intentions, while the remainder (26%) had low relationship intentions of forming long-term relationships with their respective cell phone network providers. By means of a factor analysis it was determined that the five relationship intention factors, namely involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss, were valid and reliable to measure the relationship intentions of respondents. The results further indicated that respondents with a t"iigh relationship intention are more involved with thei r cell phone network providers and feared losing thei r relationships with their cell phone network providers more than those respondents with a low relationship intention. Furthermore, respondents from the different cell phone network providers do not view the five factors comprising relationship intention differently, but they do differ with regards to other factors related to cell phone network providers. It was found that the majority of respondents regard Vodacom (not necessarily the respondent's cell phone network provider) as the cell phone network provider with the latest technology, as being the quickest, having the best coverage, best handsets, coolest image and best service. The majority of respondents regard Cell C as being the cheapest and MTN as being the most expensive. Results also indicate that respondents' parents play an important role with regard to the choice of their cell phone network providers as the majority of respondents' parents initially chose the cell phone network providers and pay their cellular expenses. It is recommended that cell phone network providers should target young adults' parents with a view to gain a foothold in the young adult market. Furthermore, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should determine how their customers perceive them as compared with competitors in order to better position themselves and to improve communication with young adults. Most importantly, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should identify those young adults with high relationship intentions (those young adults who are more involved with and fear losing their relationship with the cell phone network provider more) in order to retain them by attempting to build long-term relationships with these young adults through dedicated relationship marketing efforts. Recommendations for future research include examining relationship intention with regards to other age groups (such as scholars and adults), other service industries and other geographical areas. Furthermore, the influence which young adults exert on decisions concerning cell phone network providers and the influence of parents on young adults' product and service choices, can be explored in future research by means of the family decision roles. / Thesis (M.Com. (Marketing Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Marketers use relationship marketing in order to establish mutually beneficial long-term relationships with their customers as a means to retain these customers in the competitive market environment. Relationship marketing should, however, not be used to target each and every customer as not all customers want to build long-term relationships with organisations. In order to identify the most profitable customers to target through relationship marketing, organisations should consider their customers' relationship intentions to form long-term relationships with them. The primary objective of this study was to determine young adults' (aged 18 to 25) relationship intentions towards the South African cell phone network providers they use, namely Vodacom, MTN or Cell C. This was done by considering the five constructs used to measure relationship intention, namely involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss. A focus group was used to determine which features related to cell phone network providers young adults consider when selecting a cell phone network provider. This data was used to develop a self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed among respondents studying at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University in the North-West Provirice. A convenience (non­ probability) sampling method was used and a total of 315 respondents participated in this study. The distribution between the cell phone network providers was Vodacom (115), MTN (101) and Cell C (99). Initial data analysis revealed that 73% of respondents had high relationship intentions, while the remainder (26%) had low relationship intentions of forming long-term relationships with their respective cell phone network providers. By means of a factor analysis it was determined that the five relationship intention factors, namely involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss, were valid and reliable to measure the relationship intentions of respondents. The results further indicated that respondents with a t"iigh relationship intention are more involved with thei r cell phone network providers and feared losing thei r relationships with their cell phone network providers more than those respondents with a low relationship intention. Furthermore, respondents from the different cell phone network providers do not view the five factors comprising relationship intention differently, but they do differ with regards to other factors related to cell phone network providers. It was found that the majority of respondents regard Vodacom (not necessarily the respondent's cell phone network provider) as the cell phone network provider with the latest technology, as being the quickest, having the best coverage, best handsets, coolest image and best service. The majority of respondents regard Cell C as being the cheapest and MTN as being the most expensive. Results also indicate that respondents' parents play an important role with regard to the choice of their cell phone network providers as the majority of respondents' parents initially chose the cell phone network providers and pay their cellular expenses. It is recommended that cell phone network providers should target young adults' parents with a view to gain a foothold in the young adult market. Furthermore, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should determine how their customers perceive them as compared with competitors in order to better position themselves and to improve communication with young adults. Most importantly, it is recommended that cell phone network providers should identify those young adults with high relationship intentions (those young adults who are more involved with and fear losing their relationship with the cell phone network provider more) in order to retain them by attempting to build long-term relationships with these young adults through dedicated relationship marketing efforts. Recommendations for future research include examining relationship intention with regards to other age groups (such as scholars and adults), other service industries and other geographical areas. Furthermore, the influence which young adults exert on decisions concerning cell phone network providers and the influence of parents on young adults' product and service choices, can be explored in future research by means of the family decision roles. / Thesis (M.Com. (Marketing Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Title: Do we have a common interest? - Cultivating relationships or spreading information; a study of Strategic Political Communication on Facebook. Authors: Amanda Gibbs Sjödin & Sean Rembe Mc Hugh Course: Medie- och Kommunikationsvetenskap C, Bachelor Thesis Paper, 15hp, HT 2014. Words: 16 027 This essay aims to examine the level of relationship cultivation strategies in Swedish campaign communication. The progress in political communication emphasizes aspects of public relations such as relationship marketing . We will combine theories regarding relationship marketing with the new possibilities created for campaign communication by the emergence of web 2.0. The popular social media platforms which exist within web 2.0 give campaigns well suited means to easily facilitate input, inspire dialogue and cultivate relationships. We aim to answer the following question; Which strategic components do the parties apply in their Facebook communication? Do the parties differ in their use of communicative tools? In order to answer this question we have operationalized theories in political communication, reputation management and relationship marketing. This operationalizing resulted in eight variables. We conducted a quantitative content analysis by measuring the presence of our variables in each Facebook post made by each party on their Facebook page during the final month of the 2014 election.. The results show that both parties utilize these strategies and in a similar way but that there is a difference in how much. The Feminist Initiative had a higher overall usage but the strategy common interest was used to a high level by both parties, this shows that the parties mainly stress shared values and ideology in their communication.