Commitment in auditor-client relationships: antecedents and consequences

It has been pointed out that the construct of commitment plays a central role in business relationships. This article draws on the relationship marketing literature in order to construct a framework that can be used to investigate what motivates clients to continue their relationship with an audit firm. The results from an empirical study provide evidence for existence of a number of antecedents and consequences of commitment in auditor-client relationships. It is shown that particularly affective commitment plays an important role in these relationships. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.