Transactional or Relationship Marketing: Detenninants of Strategic Choices

Relationship marketing has won as many opponents as advocates owing to its conceptual ambiguities. This paper conceives relationship marketing as a strategic choice, rather than a marketing paradigm, delineating boundary conditions associated with such a marketing approach. We show that the appropriateness of relationship marketing depends on the nature of particular exchange relationships and the governing mechanism of the exchange involved. In assuming this position, the paper endeavours to accommodate both traditional marketing and the emerging approach, thus taking a further step in clarifying the nature of relationship marketing.