Impact of Relationship Marketing on Fostering Brand Equity of Popular Retail Clothing Brands in the Philippines

Abstract Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on nurturing the relationship between the business and the consumer in terms of the customer’s satisfaction and how they are valued. This study seeks to find the influence between relationship marketing to the brand equity of retail clothing brands in the Philippines of which the latter variable is how a company’s value to a customer is measured based on the products’ quality, recognizability, and memorability. This is to attempt to emphasize the importance of building positive and close relationships with the consumer to aid in the company’s customer retention in the long-term. Qualitative research in the case study approach were used in conducting the study by applying a framework analysis to better deduce qualitative data in accordance with its five steps. A combination of focus group discussion and one-to-one interview were employed as the data collection instruments of the study. The results of the study inferred that relationship marketing has a considerable impact on fostering the brand equity of retail clothing brands in the Philippines, with the emphasis on having an accommodative and responsive customer service and loyalty programs or membership cards as the main determinants that induces customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. This, in turn, elevates these brand’s worth or their brand equity as the more loyal and satisfied the customers are, the more they are likely to refer it to someone else and the more they are likely stay committed to the brand in the long run regardless of any small shortcomings that the brand may present. Such is a manifestation of the influence of the relationship marketing has on the brand equity, alongside how these customers would form and maintain overall positive qualities and perception of the brand’s product and service whenever they hear or see its logo or name.Journal of Undergraduate Research in Business Administration (Course Final Output