THE IMPACT OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY : CASE STUDY FINNAIR

Relationship marketing has proven itself to be an indispensable part of doing business effectively in recent decades. It was a new approach in marketing sector as well as a key trend in business field around the world. Based on relationship marketing, a company could be improved and developed by marketing researches as well as it could be built up a long term relationship with customer. This thesis was dedicated to examine the effect of relationship marketing on customer loyalty in the airline industry as well as to contribute to the understanding of customer loyalty to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in this market. Evaluating the important role of relationship marketing, the firm will get more and more customers and profit in long-term. In terms of the study of Finnair, the company's operation will be determined, evaluated and discussed specifically through relationship marketing. Moreover, the aim of this thesis was to study customer satisfaction, customer retention, customer defection, customer loyalty, customer relationship management and electronic relationships based on customer relationship, internal relationship, external relationship, supplier relationship. Furthermore, the objective of these suggestions and recommendations was to present relationships for development and improvement among participants in Finnair. Throughout this thesis, the airline firm could create many programs to establish customers’ relationship as well as develop positive attitude from them; and hence the airline firm will be developed in overall