Customers’ Motivations for Maintaining Relationships With Service Providers zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb NEELI BENDA PUDI O hio sta te Unive nity LEO NA RD 1. BERRY Texas A&M University Understanding why customers are receptive to relationships with service providers is (I key issue in relationship marketing. This paper suggests thatfour brood drivers-environmentul vtrriubles, partner variables, customer variables, and interaction variables-affect customers’ receptivity to relationship maintenance. Customers may maintain relationships either because zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT of constraints (they “have to” stay in the relationship) or because of dedication (they “want to” stay in the relationship). The potentially differential effects of these dual motivations on customers’ subsequent relationship attitudes and behaviors are examined. A model of relationship muintenance is developed and propositions are pre- sented regarding the ctntecedents and consequences of customers’ relationship maintenance. Theoretical and practiccrl implications of the paper ore discussed. INTRODUCTION Relationship Marketing (RM)-the establishment of long-term marketing relationships- has profoundly influenced marketing theory and practice. Marketing authors hail RM as a paradigm shift (Gronroos, 1991; Kotler, 1991; Sheth and Parvatiyar, 1995) and remark upon its effects in changing the rules of competition (McKenna, 1991; Vavra, 1995). Corresponding to its growing influence, relationship marketing has also expanded beyond its initial conceptualization as a firm’s efforts to attract, maintain, and enhance rela- tionships with its customers (Berry, 1983). Today, RM may be used to describe a plethora of marketing relationships, such as those between a firm and its buyers, suppliers, employ- ees, and regulators (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). This expanded scope of RM is not without controversy (Iacobucci, 1994). However, as Cravens (1995) points out, whatever the debate regarding the merits of including other rela- tionships, the customer continues to be at the center of all conceptualizations of RM. There Neeli Bendapudi is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Ohio State University. Leonard L. Berry is JC Penny Chair of Retailing Studies, Professor of Marketing, and Director, Center for Retailing Studies, Texas A&M University. Journal of Retailing, Volume 73(l), pp. 1537, ISSN: 0022-4359 Copyright 0 1997 by New York University. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 15