Krolikowska, Ewa ORCID: 0000-0002-0739-2110 (2015) Conceptualising four new social bonds in business relationships. In: 23rd International Colloquium on Relationship Marketing (ICRM) 2015, 15-17 September 2015, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Social bonds have been recognised by researchers as one of a number of bonds in a business relationship. Social bonds which develop between individuals can impact positively on long-term relationships at an organisational level. Although they are central to business relationships, social bonds are not as well defined, conceptualised and measured as other relationship marketing constructs. Constructs such as commitment and loyalty have been found to be multidimensional however the social bond is still generally considered to be unidimensional. One of the barriers to identifying more social bonds has been the limited use of theory in scale development. A review of the literature has suggested that social bonds may be based on attachment and liking. Attachment theory emerged from research into parent-child relationships but has more recently been found to be relevant to business relationships. Liking has been found to be a significant driver of relationship maintenance in business. However these theories have not been used so far to identify social bonds in business relationships. In the current study, attachment theory and Sternberg’s Theory of Love were used to identify four potential social bonds: security, intimacy, passion and affective commitment. A phenomenological study consisting of in-depth interviews with thirty business people was conducted to explore these potential social bonds. This paper outlines the process of conceptualising four new social bonds using theory, literature and data from primary research.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Social bonds, Attachment, Liking, Business relationships
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business > Department of Marketing, Events & Tourism
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2020 17:42
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/14795

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