Abstract

Despite the importance of satisfaction, loyalty and relationship length in the literature, there is very little evidence of studies within the Nigerian Business to Business (B2B) Relationship terrain. This paper seeks to investigate the effect of relationship length on SMEs association with their banks in Nigeria. Measurement Items were adapted from various scale sets presented in existing studies were combined to investigate the B2B relationship context. Data were collected from 221 SMEs via a self-administered questionnaire completed either by the SME owner or senior manager with responsibility for relationship with their bank, providing 199 usable records. Principal Component Exploratory Analysis (PCA) was used to determine the underlying data structure, with subsequent deployment of Cronbach’s alpha as a post-hoc assessment of the internal reliability of the retained factors. Subsequently, regression analysis was employed to determine the impact of satisfaction on loyalty in a short and long term relationship contexts. The analysis presented suggests that the SMEs’ had evidence of been satisfied with their bank, however, the regression analysis for both short and long term relationship length were both significant in impacting their loyalty towards their bank. The originality of this paper lies in the investigation of a B2B relationship involving SMEs and banks within a relationship context that hitherto was unknown and the validation of relevant relationship building blocks. 

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