Retail customer segmentation based on relational benefits

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Journal of Relationship Marketing

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Retail Customer Segmentation Based on Relational Benefits

Irene Gil-Sauraa; Maria Eugenia Ruiz-Molinaa a Faculty of Economics, Department of Marketing, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

To cite this Article Gil-Saura, Irene and Ruiz-Molina, Maria Eugenia(2009) 'Retail Customer SegmentationBased on

Relational Benefits', Journal of Relationship Marketing, 8: 3, 253 — 266 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/15332660902991197 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332660902991197

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Journal of Relationship Marketing, 8:253–266, 2009 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1533-2667 print / 1533-2675online DOI: 10.1080/15332660902991197

Retail Customer Segmentation Based on Relational Benefits
IRENE GIL-SAURA and MARIA EUGENIA RUIZ-MOLINA
Faculty of Economics, Department of Marketing, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

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Marketing is based on the establishment and maintenance of continuous relations between buyer andsalesman as a source of mutual benefits. Nevertheless, perceptions of the benefits of these relations can vary to a great extent based on the type of client. The purpose of this article is to characterize groups of retail customers based on their perceptions of the benefits and costs derived from their relations with retailers. As a result of cluster analysis, we obtained a typology of consumers thatdiffer significantly in their perceptions of relational benefits and of other retailer characteristics (e.g., store’s information and communication technologies, perceived value, service quality and loyalty). KEYWORDS relational benefits, retailing, segmentation

INTRODUCTION
Marketing focuses on the establishment, development, and maintenance of continuous relationships between buyer and selleras source of mutual benefits (American Marketing Association, 2004). In order to guarantee the effectiveness of marketing policies in a highly competitive market, the literature has proposed considering relational benefits and customer segmentation (e.g., Shani & Chalasani, 1992). The literature has pointed out the importance of customer segmentation for the effective implementation of marketingstrategies in services (Zeithaml, Bitner, & Gremler, 2006). Four types of segmentation criteria exist: demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral (Kotler & Keller, 2006).
This research was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Projects SEJ2004-05988 and SEJ2007-66054). Address correspondence to Maria Eugenia Ruiz-Molina, Faculty of Economy, Avenida de los Naranjos,...