30 The effect of marketing activities on gaining a competitive advantage with the mediating role of relationship quality; case study: Ansar Bank of Mashhad Saeed Jafari Titkanloo 1  , Mahdi Ramzanpour 2 , Aria Fakour 2 and Seyed Reza Nasri 2 1 Assistant professor, Faculty of Management, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran 2 Master of Business Administration, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran  Email: s_jafari_t@imamreza.ac.ir ABSTRACT The banking industry is experiencing an increasingly competitive atmosphere. The emergence of financial institutions and their entry into the competition arena have disrupted the existing security margin for banks. They have also challenged the guaranteed market share of many banks. Therefore, the purpose of the present research was to investigate the effect of marketing activities on gaining a competitive advantage with the mediating role of customer relationship quality at Ansar Bank, Mashhad, Iran. An applied research model with a descriptive survey design was used in this study. The statistical population of the research consists of the customers of the branches of Ansar Bank in Mashhad. The statistical population was selected using simple random sampling with the distribution of 400 questionnaires. Expert opinion was used to measure validity. Reliability measurement was performed using Cronbach’s alpha which was calculated to be 0.93. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and LISREL were used for data analysis. The results suggest that marketing activities have a positive and significant effect on relationship quality and acquiring a competitive advantage. They also indicate that relationship quality has a significant effect on gaining a competitive advantage. Furthermore, it was revealed that marketing activities have a positive and significant effect on acquiring a competitive advantage with the mediating role of relationship quality. Original Article PII: S232247702000004-10 Rec. 20 February, 2020 Acc. 29 May, 2020 Pub. 25 June, 2020 Keywords Competitive advantage, Relationship quality, Marketing activities INTRODUCTION Fierce competition is characteristic of the banking industry in the present age. In this regard, the most innovative products and services are replicated by competitors. This reduces the ability of banks to keep their sustainable competitive advantage. The emergence of financial institutions and their entry into the competition arena have disrupted the existing security margin for banks. They have also challenged the guaranteed market share of many banks. Financial institutions have been able to outperform banks in many areas to satisfy their customers and acquire a greater market share by relying on their marketing activities. These areas include offering modern banking services, extensive, creative and purposeful advertising, proper location allocation for the construction of their branches, designing attractive interiors and exteriors for their branches and most importantly careful recruitment and training of their employees. Marketing activities are some of the strategies capable of growing a bank’s revenue (Taqiyah and Khatami, 2015). Over recent decades the quality of a relationship has been considered to be an important topic in the area of business. Establishment of relationships with customers seems to be a necessity for organizations if they want to acquire a competitive advantage. To influence marketing activities and scientific research in various fields and industries the concept of relationship marketing has received attention. However, in the field of financial institutions and banks it has rarely been studied (Haghighi et al., 2012). In today’s competitive environment, 2020 SCIENCELINE Journal of Educational and Management Studies J. Educ. Manage. Stud., 10(2): 30-39, June 25, 2020 ISSN: 2322-4770 License: CC BY 4.0, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.51475/jems.2020.4 To cite this paper: Jafari Titkanloo S., Ramzanpour M., Fakour A., Nasri S. (2020). The effect of marketing activities on gaining a competitive advantage with the mediating role of relationship quality; case study: Ansar Bank of Mashhad. J. Educ. Manage. Stud., 10(2): 30-39. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.51475/jems.2020.4