Developing relationships with school customers: the role of market orientation

Purpose While the role of relationship marketing to consumers’ overall satisfaction with schools has been discussed in the education management literature, empirical studies on the marketing mechanisms that underpin school-customer relationships are limited. The purpose of this paper is to establish the association between market orientation (MO) in the school context and key relationship marketing performance indicators. Design/methodology/approach MO and four relationship constructs (brand trust, affective commitment, attitudinal loyalty, and advocacy) were measured using existing and established scales from the education and behavioral literatures. A model reflecting causal ordering derived from the literature and an understanding of school-customer relationships was developed. Data were collected from 205 parents of school-aged children in the USA and analyzed using structural equation analysis. Findings Results show that a positive relationship between market-oriented behaviors of school organizations and three of the identified indicators of successful school relationship marketing (affective commitment, attitudinal loyalty, and advocacy) are mediated by brand trust. Originality/value The study contributes to an understanding of the theoretical relationship between market-oriented behaviors and relationship marketing for schools. The results suggest that, for school organizations, MO impacts important outcomes and thus may be vital to sustainability and growth.