An assessment of the antecedents of church commitment

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The conception of relationship marketing has led to an increased interest inorganisations developing long-term relationships with their members or clients. Theemphasis has shifted from a transaction-based marketing approach to a relationshipbasedmarketing approach. This shift has resulted in an increased need for researchin the field of relationship marketing in for-profit as well as non-profit organisations.The purpose of this study was to identify and assess the dimensions through whichSouth African churches can manage commitment with their members. Thesedimensions are regarded as antecedents to commitment and were identified througha literature review. The literature review identified 11 antecedents of churchcommitment, which were classified into antecedents that are specifically relevant tochurches, and those with a broader appeal. Furthermore, churches were classifiedwhether they can be viewed as traditional or non-traditional.An empirical investigation followed the literature review and included a pilot and acomprehensive empirical study among the total student population of StellenboschUniversity, as in 2011. After the pilot study was conducted the number ofantecedents was reduced to eight, while three antecedents had to be renamed. Thefinal empirical study provided support for two antecedents of church commitment,namely 'small-groups' and 'reliability'. In addition, significant differences were foundbetween traditional and non-traditional churches in respect of the confirmedrelationships. Consequently, a framework was developed by which churches canmanage commitment with their members.This study makes a valuable contribution to the relationship marketing literature,since no formally published study could be found in which relationship marketing wasused to identify the antecedents of church commitment.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University