Limitations and Directions for Further Research
Although our research extols the virtues of cultivating customer
relationships, recent research suggests that customers
are becoming overwhelmed by attempts of marketers to
engage them in relationship marketing (Fournier, Dobscha,
and Mick 1998). As marketers consider cultivating relationships
with customers, it is important to recognize that relationships
take on many forms (Fournier 1998). In addition,
marketers should recognize that relationships are reciprocal:
Both parties give and receive. For example, the brandfests
discussed in our work were events in which managers made
conscious decisions not to view the events as strictly shortterm
investments. The marketers provided experiences,
entertainment, and education that customers perceived to be
in excess of the costs they incurred to participate. The anticipation
that customers would reciprocate with increased loyalty
and trust (see Morgan and Hunt 1994) was confirmed
by this research.