Transforming nobody to somebody: Do transformational leadership and relationship marketing make a difference for sustainable marketing?

Abstract

With a complex, dynamic and fiercely competitive business environment and consumerism, sustainable relationship marketing is a challenge that is critical for businesses. The concept of transformational leadership can be considered as the most influential over the last two decades in changing the ways that businesses are operating – in particular, in marketing their products, and attracting, delighting and retaining customers for the long run. This conceptual paper examines the relationship between transformational leadership and relationship marketing in the context of selling. In particular, the usage of trust and commitment used by both theories has been discussed extensively. Ultimately this study will try to link transformational leadership with relationship marketing while suggesting the use of these concepts side by side for better sustainable marketing.