THE IMPACT OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN CIVIL AVIATION INDUSTRY

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of relationship marketing dimensions on customer loyalty in the civil aviation industry in Turkey. Customer loyalty in the civil aviation industry is one of the major concerns of practitioners because of its significant importance. One way to enhance customer loyalty in civil aviation is to focus on offering excellent services and meeting the diverse needs of the customer. Civil aviation needs to have a good understanding of their customers’ behaviours so that appropriate marketing strategies directed towards relationship building and customer retention can be developed. For this reason, in this study emphasis is given to assess the influence of various relationship marketing dimensions on customer loyalty in civil aviation industry. Assessed dimensions were satisfaction, trust, communication, empathy, relational bonds, and commitment. Based on these dimensions, six different hypotheses were formulated as part of the research model. The research method of this study was quantitative; therefore, study data were collected from 279 respondents through online survey. Research model of the study was assessed with the help of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equational model (SEM) in AMOS. The findings showed that three (satisfaction, communication, and relational bond) out of six dimensions positively and statistically significantly influence customer loyalty in civil aviation industry. This study makes suggestions to practitioners on how to improve their customers’ loyalty.