EFFECTS OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY: THE CASE OF AYAT SHARE COMPANY

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of relationship marketing components-trust, commitment, conflict handling and empathy on customer loyalty in Ethiopian real estate industry specifically the case of AYAT S.C. A close ended questionnaire was developed and distributed to 125 sample real estate customers out of which 100 respondents gave a valid response and the hypotheses were tested. The student researcher used non-probability sampling technique to select sample respondents from the total population under the study. A quantitative method with deductive approach is chosen in this research. The findings show that relationship marketing dimensions have an effect on customer loyalty. All the independent variables are positively and directly related to customer loyalty particularly in AYAT S.C and in general in Ethiopian real estate industry. The relationship between relationship marketing and customer loyalty is found to be significant. Therefore, AYAT S.C should make the whole system on work with satisfying customers’ needs and want to create customer loyalty. And also, they are expected to invest more on attracting new customers and retaining the existing ones with regard to relationship marketing to increase customer loyalty.