Reassessing Relationships in Consumer Markets: Emotion, Cognition, and Consumer Relationship Intention

Abstract

This article shows the importance of consumer relationship intention and its cognitive and emotional motivations in the development of a relational approach in buyer-seller relationships in business-to-consumer settings. The article presents empirical research that used a cross-sectional survey of 222 consumers followed by discriminant analysis to highlight the fact that different relationships may exist in consumer markets. We found that cognition-based motivations explain functional relationship outcomes and that emotion-based motivations explain higher forms of dedication to the provider, such as altruism, switching intentions, and acquiescence. The article shows that consumer proneness and motivations are highly significant in discriminating relationships. Â(c) 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.