The impact of service/product performance and problem-solving on relationship satisfaction

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to merge service and product quality concepts as well as problem-solving capabilities and relationship satisfaction into an integrative model and empirically test it in business-to-business (B2B) context. Design/methodology/approach: Hypothesis testing was performed using a structural equation model based on a LISREL approach applied to a sample of 1,218 industrial buying centers producing and marketing food and beverage products for industrial use in Belgium, France and Holland. Findings: The model allows a comparison between the relative efficacy of product quality, service and sales quality as well as problem-solving in driving relationship satisfaction. The results demonstrate the relative effectiveness of sales team quality while also emphasizing the importance of problem-solving in building relationship satisfaction. Originality/value: This study makes theoretical and empirical contributions providing a better understanding of the impact of service/product quality and problem-solving in building relationship satisfaction in a B2B context.