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This paper presents a conceptual model of means-end theory. The proposed model, built on Gutman's (1982) contributions to means-end theory, consists of four conceptual categories that are linked together. The conceptual categories are context-nested consumer choices, attributes of the consumer choices, consequences and values. The discussion uses results of four cases to illustrate the conceptual categories of the proposed explanatory means-end model.

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This single, embedded case study examined the marketing activities of Flensted Catering A/S, a Danish food company. The case is the first one in a series of case studies constituting a larger research project with the overall objective of understanding how to implement relationship marketing, how to monitor the outputs and how to measure the returns. In 1996, the company embarked on a three-phase programme directed at building relations with customers. As a prelude to the implementation, Flensted Catering A/S conducted focus groups and issued questionnaires to determine customer perceptions of how the company could meliorate its performance. Subsequently, the Danish firm established project teams, instituted customer-focused staff training and sought to improve communications with customers. Following the implementation, the monitoring revealed that Flensted Catering A/S was rated as a better supplier by 43 per cent of its customers and that customer retention had risen to 94 per cent. Other returns included increased employee satisfaction and reformed service and administrative procedures. This study points toward the need for corporate commitment and the involvement of front-line people in the development of marketing relationships. It also yields empirical examples of methods and techniques that can be used to design a programme of relationship marketing and to measure its effects. Finally, the study supports models that have expanded the traditional buyer-seller dyad with other relationships. These findings are interesting in their own right but the case study has also served to shape the overall design of the larger research project by leading to a more precise articulation of the research questions to be addressed and the hypotheses to be tested.