Abstract:
This main objective of this study is to determine the relationship between relationship
marketing practices and cusotmer retention in the mobile telecommunications industry of
Ghana. Specifically, the study sought to analyse the direct and indirect relationship among
relationship marketing (RM) practices of trust, commitment, conflict handling on customer
retention . To achieve the objectives of the study, hypothesis were formulated based on
literature reviewed and a descriptive quantitative study was used to investigate the problem.
Methodologically, the study was a cross sectional quantitative survey that involved the use
of self administered structured questionnaire to garner data from respondents of four (4)
mobile telecommunication operators in Ghana. Using a sample size of 320, convenience
sampling technique was used to sample the respondnets. The Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software and Partial Least Square's (PLS) Structural Equation
Modelling (SEM) were used to analyse the responses. The findings revealed that the RM
construct of trust and commitment do not have a direct relationship with customer retention
except conflict handling. However, the RM practices were seen to have an indirect impact on
customer retention through customer satisfaction. While the methodological limitation of the
study are noted, the study offers useful theoretical and managerial contributions. The study
recommended that to increase customer retention, mobile telecommunications firms were
advised to implement effective conflict handling mechanisms to in order to increase customer
retention. Again, the firms were recommended to increase relationship marketing efforts to
enhance customer satisfaction in order to achieve a higher customer retention.
