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PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the central role that commitment plays in driving customer loyalty and to identify the effect that confidence, social and special treatment benefits as well as relationship investment, communication and management have on the development of commitment, and ultimately customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports the results of a national mail survey of 591 consumers across nine different service industries.FindingsThe findings of the study suggest that relationship commitment drives customer loyalty and that confidence, social and special treatment benefits affect commitment to the service, as does relationship investment and management. Surprisingly, relationship communication was found to have a negative effect on commitment to the service.Practical implicationsThis paper provides managers with insight as to how they can better create and sustain loyal relationships through the creation of customer commitment.Originality/valueThe paper empirically demonstrates the importance of commitment in developing and sustaining loyal relationships while also providing a detailed assessment of the role of relationship benefits and maintenance in creating committed customers.

Purpose -This paper seeks to investigate the effects of relationship benefits on relationship quality and aspects of service quality, namely technical and functional quality, and the subsequent influence on word-of-mouth behavior. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reports results from a structural equation model that utilizes data from 591 consumers across a range of services. Findings -The findings highlight the important role of relationship benefits in driving customer perceptions of technical, functional and relationship quality. While confidence, social and special treatment benefits drive technical and functional quality, it is only confidence benefits that drive relationship quality. Furthermore, it is found that functional and relationship quality drive word-of-mouth behavior.Research limitations/implications -The findings of this study contribute to the literature by showing the differential impact that relationship benefits have on quality -technical, functional, and relationship -and subsequently the effect that functional and relationship quality have on word-of-mouth behavior. Practical implications -The paper provides firms with the knowledge needed to more effectively implement relationship-marketing activities. As the service economy continues to grow, competition intensifies, and to ensure service excellence, firms need to establish strong relationships with their customers as the quality of the customer-provider relationship can increase word-of-mouth behavior. Originality/value -The paper empirically investigates the role of relationship benefits in enhancing perceptions of quality while also providing an analysis of the differential role of functional, technical, and relationship quality in enhancing customers' word-of-mouth intentions.

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