Relationship quality, relationship marketing, and client perceptions of the levels of service quality of charitable organisations

Abstract

PurposeTo investigate possible linkages between the relationship marketing activities of charitable organisations and the calibres of the relationships that charities establish with their beneficiaries. Also to identify the specific relationship marketing functions that contribute most to the development of good relationships between charities and their beneficiary clients.Design/methodology/approachOne hundred beneficiaries of UK “helping and caring” charities were questioned about their perceptions of the service quality of the organisations that had given them assistance, their satisfaction with a charity's services, the character of their relationship with the charity, and the calibres of five different forms of relationship marketing (e.g. advertising, database marketing) employed by the charity. A model was constructed and estimated using the method of partial least squares. Perceived service quality was measured via adaptations of the SERVQUAL instrument but without any assessments of the respondents' prior expectations concerning the services they would receive from an organisation.FindingsRelationship marketing was found to represent an effective weapon for improving both relationship quality and beneficiaries' satisfaction with service provision. Charities that “listened” to their beneficiary clients (e.g. by encouraging feedback) and which interacted with them on a regular basis were regarded as being exceptionally good at relationship marketing. Relationship quality as well as actual service quality induced beneficiaries to want to recommend a charity to other people and to engage in positive word‐of‐mouth.Research limitations/implicationsThe configuration of the model meant that it was not possible to examine the consequences of reversing the assumption that satisfaction was the cause of perceived service quality and not vice versa.Practical implicationsThe outcomes offer practical advice to charity managers regarding the manners in which they should pursue their relationship marketing activities. Charity managers need to be trained and competent in the techniques of relationship marketing. A genuine concern for building relationships should suffuse the entire organisation.Originality/valueThis is the first published study to explore the use of relationship marketing by charities in respect of their beneficiaries rather than their donors.