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Building on previous studies which suggested that trust is a critical factor in facilitating exchange relationships, the authors investigate with empirically derived data the role of service quality and customer bonding as antecedents of trust in relatively newer vis‐à‐vis a relatively mature relationship between the provider of business‐to‐business services and the client. The findings presented here show that the time element is critical to the effect that both service quality and successful customer bonding bear in trust development. Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that not all dimensions of the quality of the service offered by the provider contribute equally in the provider’s trustworthiness. Similarly, specific customer bonding techniques foster the extent to which the client trusts the service provider while others do not have an impact on the trustworthiness of the provider.

The study extends the existing knowledge by taking a relationship perspective to study the effect of service quality on customer retention. We integrate business‐to‐business marketing literature with service quality literature to develop a model to capture relationship commitment and other influencing factors. The model is improved with help of semi‐structured interviews which is later tested through a survey of 241 companies in the advertising sector. Findings indicate that service quality indeed contributes to the long‐term relationships and customer retention.

Given the ways in which the research pressures on university staff are becoming seemingly ever greater, an issue of the European Journal of Marketing that is given over to a survey of the kinds of research initiatives which are currently being carried out is timely. The study which provides the basis for this was conducted between December 1994 and February 1995, with questionnaires being sent to staff in universities throughout Europe. At the time the final selection was made, a total of 150 responses had been received from 18 countries.