Buyer / Seller Relationship in the Services Sector at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Commitment-Trust Theory Perspective

Abstract

Drawing on the commitment-trust theory as the central approach, this paper aims to evaluate the importance of the commitment-trust theory in improving relationships between buyers and sellers in the service sector at the Bottom of the Pyramid. The paper further aims to investigate if the relationship formed between the buyers/sellers can impact the organization’s financial performance through customer satisfaction. From that, a conceptual framework is developed, which illustrates how the buyers’ and sellers’ relationships through commitment-trust theory are displayed as mediators in the conceptual framework, subsequently impacting the financial performance of the service providers. The study is a conceptual paper; therefore, it only concentrated on secondary data, which led to reviewing the literature of 190 articles focused on the conceptual evaluation of existing actors in relationship marketing and services marketing. The findings of this study illustrate that service providers should not only concentrate on high earners but also give attention to the bottom of the pyramid markets as those markets are also profitable. The findings also prove that service providers must adequately pay attention to the Bottom of the pyramid customers. The findings further revealed that well-served customers result in positive word of mouth, which subsequently increases loyalty and referrals, thus resulting in more outstanding market share. The study also showed that the customers at the Bottom of the Pyramid are not usually well acquainted with the benefits of the products and their rights as consumers; hence, some service providers take advantage of them.