Relational Internal Marketing: An Empirical Investigation

Supporters of relationship marketing frequently acknowledge that internal marketing is central to an holistic approach to relationship marketing. Recent studies have noted its relevance in explicating general relationship marketing frameworks (Morgan & Hunt 1994). The idea that internal relationships are as important to the organization as external customer relations is reasonable. However, to some extent, the two literatures have developed exclusively of each other. Without the benefit of a broad relationship literature, early conceptualizations of internal marketing were grounded in transactional views of marketing. We contend that many subsequent adaptations of the concept have failed to depart from these origins and, if internal marketing is to remain relevant, alternative approaches to the concept must be developed and tested. Accordingly, we propose three research objectives.