Commitment in auditor-client relationships: antecedents and consequences

It has been pointed out that the construct of commitment plays a central ro le in business relationships. This article draws on the relationship market ing literature in order to construct a framework that can be used to invest igate what motivates clients to continue their relationship with an audit f irm. The results from an empirical study provide evidence for existence of a number of antecedents and consequences of commitment in auditor-client re lationships. It is shown that particularly affective commitment plays an im portant role in these relationships. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.