13. Corporate Image as an Element of Legitimacy of Chinese Steel Companies

The main objective of this article is to make a diagnosis about the connection between relationship marketing and corporate image through the Chinese steel companies. Corporate image has a strong effect on relationship marketing, because a good corporate image eases the achievement of confidence, influences the purchasing decision and is an essential factor in the virtual transactions when the companies catch customer’s interest. Relationship marketing is also linked with corporate image because it is a good tool to create and improve corporate image. By this way, an online survey technique has been applied to 302 units: the steel sellers/dealers from different Chinese iron and steel companies. The main findings of this research paper are based on statistical analysis (univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques). Hence, this research paper achieves understanding about corporate image and relationship marketing from the perspective that they complement each other and can make a mutual support. Therefore, by taking into account the obtained survey results, it can be provided some practical suggestions not only for the quality, performance and attraction, as a part of myriad of the concept of corporate image, but also for some important parts of the relationship marketing, like satisfaction, trust, loyalty and social networks.