The role of cultural values and relationship marketing programs in promoting customer satisfaction

Abstract

This paper investigated the mediation effect of relationship marketing programs on the relationship between cultural values and customer satisfaction in the hotel industry of Uganda. This study was relevant because the current era of growing competition and changing customer expectations within the hotel industry, compels hotels to devise strategies to attain a competitive advantage. Cultural values enhance and guide relationship-marketing programs which increase customer satisfaction. A quantitative survey design focusing on hotel customers was adopted to investigate the envisaged linkage between cultural values, relationship-marketing programs and customer satisfaction. The results of the study indicated that relationship-marketing programs partially mediates the relationship between cultural values and customer satisfaction. The study results provide a reason for hotel managers to devote more resources towards cultural values in a bid to enhance relationship-marketing programs, which resonates customer satisfaction. The results of the study support the idea that cultural values through relationship marketing programs generate a sustainable psychological satisfaction for customers and a high market share for the organization, more importantly in an environment that is multi-cultural in nature. The study recommends hotel managers to regularly consider the multi-cultural faceted society when designing relationship-marketing programs in order to build a long-term relationship with customers. As evidenced in this study, it is of great importance to cultivate cultural values in order to enhance relationship- marketing programs, an aspect that is vital in boosting customer satisfaction. Theoretically, the study extends the adaptability of social exchange theory on customer satisfaction by expounding relationship marketing in enhancing customer satisfaction.