Advertising Agency Retention – Views from South African Advertisers

Commercial reality demands long and lasting relationships that are beneficial to both advertising agencies and theirclients. This article presents a conceptual model to illustrate the salient choice criteria employed by advertisers whenrenewing advertising agency contracts. The model was empirically tested, and data obtained from 116 respondentswere subjected to factor and correlation analysis to explore the dimensionality of the retention construct. Researchresults support that retention is multidimensional and highlights the limitations of research that measure single factorsrelated to retention. The model postulates that retention is the result of a good working relationship, service satisfaction,respect and support, clear terms of engagement; and affective conflict resolution. Insight into the nuances of each ofthese antecedents is also offered. In management practice, this model will provide valuable insight to agencies withregard to client retention management. Findings of this study may also be extended to other high-value professionalservice industries.