Business-to-business Framework of Relationship Marketing in the South African Cement Manufacturing Industry

Phineas Mbango

Abstract

The focus of the study was relationship marketing (RM) in the context of business-tobusiness in the cement manufacturing industry in South Africa. The study’s literature reveals that there is limited published research in the cement industry, particularly in South Africa, which deals with dimensions of RM. There is evidence from the literature that RM is important for building long-term relationships with customers and contributes to organisational profitability. The main objective of the study was to develop a framework of dimensions of RM in the South African cement industry. Data were collected from 362 major cement customers throughout South Africa’s nine provinces using the face-to-face interview technique with self-administered questionnaires. The data collected in the empirical study were analysed using the structural equations modelling (SEM). A framework of RM dimensions for the cement industry in South Africa was developed. The empirical results of this study suggested that in order to maintain customer satisfaction, a cement supplier has to invest in ways of enhancing customer trust and communication. One contribution of this study is its examination of the sequential logic of RM constructs in businessto-business in the cement industry.