New service bonds and customer value in customer relationship management: The case of museum visitors

The ability to manage customer relationships successfully provides tourism organizations with an opportunity to increase their value proposition and obtain competitive advantage. However, no study has attempted to investigate the role of new service bonds (i.e., the newness and meaningfulness of new services provided by organizations) as a relationship tactic for customer value for long-term sustainability, particularly in the context of the museum industry, which is relatively under-researched in the tourism management field. This study addresses this research gap by exploring the effects of new service bonds on customer commitment through the creation of knowledge and relational values, particularly in the museum industry. Two hundred ninety-six customers of six major museums in Hong Kong were surveyed. Findings show that both traditional relationship tactics and new service bonds affect customers’ perceived relationship investment of a museum, on which new service bonds have a stronger effect. Both knowledge and relational value mechanisms are the underlying mechanisms that partially mediate the relationship between relationship investment and customer commitment. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.