This is the assignment Brief that you have to follow. According to this Quote `The existence of trust and commitment among parties is seen by some to be central to the success of relationship marketing strategies` Morgan and Hunt, 1994 p.22; Palmatier et

The existence of trust and commitment among parties is seen by some to be central to the success of relationship marketing strategies ' Morgan and Hunt , 1994

.22

Introduction

Sharply increased market competition in the decades that followed the Second World war , as numerous companies engaged in increasing their customer base , either by attracting new users or by wooing away users from products and services provided by other business firms , led to the emergence of many new marketing ideas and concepts . Relationship Marketing (RM , first described by Theodore Levitt in 1983

, emerged as an important marketing strategy as managers realised the importance of existing customers and the need to keep them from switching over to using other products (Dupont , 1998

Originating from the direct marketing campaigns of the 1970s and the 1980s and facilitated by the explosion in print , media , telephone and IT based communication options , RM has over the years evolved significantly as a marketing tool (Jacobs Others , 1998 . Aiming to retain customers through the creation of trust and building of commitment between customers and products , services or companies , RM theory and practice has been enriched by the contributions of academics and researchers as well as by real life case studies of companies that have engaged in such market actions (Jacob Others , 1998 . The spread of the internet and the growth of websites and online communication have enabled companies to increasingly engage with their customers and track preferences activities , tastes , likes , dislikes , and complaints , build customer pros , and design...