THE EFFECTS OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY: THE CASE OF SELECTED WATER BOTTLING COMPANY IN GURAGE ZONE

Abstract

The study was aim to examine effects of relationship marketing on customer loyalty at Gurage zone selective water bottling company. The ultimate objectives of this study was identifying determinants of relationship marketing over customer loyalty in water bottling company and to forwarded necessary recommendation for water bottling company in Gurage zone. The target population of the study was customer of water bottling company in Gurage zone. Five constructs trust, empathy, commitment, conflict handling and customer loyalty are independent variable in the other hand relationship marketing was dependent variable. The study employed a survey (structured questionnaire) with a five liker scale, 329 customers were sampled from which 324 respondents returned fully completed questionnaires (98% response rate). A quantitative and qualitative study with descriptive research design, non-probability sampling specifically random sampling was used. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze descriptive statistics to show the demographic characteristics of the respondents and inferential statistics (regression and correlation) to show the effect of each variable on relationship marketing and to show their relationship as well. Data analysis indicated that all the specific objective findings have positive and statistical significant effects on the relationship marketing of customer in water bottling company. Based on the analyzed data mean value of trust, empathy, commitment, conflict handling and customer loyalty has low value. Therefore if the companies desires to ultimately provide a better service satisfaction for their customer, it is recommended that more attention should be directed toward enhancing trust, empathy, commitment, conflict handling and customer loyalty. Key words: Relationship Marketing, Customer Loyalty, Water Bottling