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In an industry characterised by fierce competition, cell phone network providers find it increasingly difficult to retain their customers after service failure. It is therefore essential for cell phone network providers to offer effective service recovery when they attempt to restore customer satisfaction following service failure. As it has been argued that relationships between customers and service providers should be considered a key determinant of the service recovery required to restore post-recovery attitudes and behavioural intentions, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between South African cell phone customers’ relationship intentions, their perceptions of service recovery and their satisfaction following service recovery. Personal in-home interviews were conducted to collect data from 605 cell phone customers residing in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. In addition to the significant positive relationships found between cell phone users’ relationship intentions, perceived service recovery and satisfaction after service recovery, this study found that perceived service recovery played a mediating role in the relationship between relationship intention and satisfaction following service recovery. The study concludes that, although a direct relationship exists between relationship intention and satisfaction following service recovery, perceived service recovery plays an additional indirect complementary role in this relationship. It is recommended that, in addition to focusing their relationship efforts on customers with relationship intentions, cell phone network providers also offer positively perceived service recovery to these customers, as this would lead to greater satisfaction following service recovery.

Orientation: Fast growth and intense competition characterise the South African cellphone industry. Customers switch easily between cellphone brands and marketers are challenged to cultivate brand relationships with customers in order to ensure brand loyalty. Research purpose: This study investigated the brand romance, -attitude and -loyalty of customers toward their cellphone brands in the North West Province, South Africa. Motivation for the study: One way in which brand loyalty in the cellphone industry can be achieved is to influence attitudes and, ultimately, create brand loyalty by promoting brand romance between the customer and the brand. Research design, approach and method: Being quantitative in nature, the study followed a descriptive research design to collect 371 responses through self-administered questionnaires. Main findings: The results indicated that most respondents were contract customers who only use a brand of cellphone for between one and three years. Brand romance toward cellphone brands was positive although room for improvement exists. Brand attitude toward current cellphone brands was also positive, but brand loyalty was fairly low, indicating that marketers need to improve brand loyalty toward their cellphone brand. There were, furthermore, significant and positive relationships between brand romance, brand attitude and brand loyalty toward cellphone brands. Practical/managerial implications: Brand romance can be considered to be a viable way of improving attitude toward a cellphone brand, ultimately leading to brand loyalty. Contribution/value-add: Brand romance in brand relationships has significant and positive relationships with brand attitude and brand loyalty in the cellphone industry of South Africa.