"If you're gonna play the game, you gotta learn to play it right" : Relationship marketing in the online gambling industry

Background: The expansion of the Internet has created nearly endless possibilities for innovations in regards to the e-commerce environment. However, as new technologies emerges, so do the competition on the market. The online gambling industry is not an exception to this notion, characterized by numerous providers with more or less identical market offerings. In order to create competitive advantage to ensure economical growth, a need for customer retention instead of acquisition has been identified. Research question: How can the utilization of relationship marketing foster long-lasting and value-bonded relationships between an online gambling company and its customers? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of relationship marketing and its endorsement in the process of creating long-lasting and value-bonded relationships, and how the concept can be utilized by online gambling companies. The purpose will be achieved by examining, how online services correlates with online gambling services, and in which way online gambling companies are actuating the concept of relationship marketing, and by mapping values which active customers in the industry desires when gambling online. Method: The applied methodology is based on an inductive approach in coherence with the qualitative research method. The primary data which aims to enable the achievement of the stated purpose have been collected through the conducting of three focus groups consisting of online gambling customers in addition to a individual interview representing the online gambling industry perspective. Conclusion: The findings from the empirical data have identified that the online gambling customer has hard to identify the very purpose of a potential relationship with an online gambling company. However, much of the value strived for by the customer can be generated by the successful implementation of an relationship marketing approach. Hence, relationship marketing can be a useful approach for online gambling companies in order to foster long-term and value-bonded relationships, with the simple understanding that the approach itself can generate desired customer values, and that relationships as such does not represent a value strived by the online gambling customer. Suggestion for further research: See section 5.2 page 58 Keywords: Services, Online gambling industry, Relationship marketing, Customer valu