Relationship Marketing and Self-Reported Customer Lifetime Value among Customers of a Commercial Bank in Ghana: The Statistical Mediating Role of Customer Engagement

Competition in banking increasingly depends on the quality and durability of customer relationships, yet the process linking relationship-oriented practices with longer-term customer value remains context dependent. This study examined associations among relationship marketing, customer engagement, and self-reported customer lifetime value (CLV) among 367 customers of a commercial bank in the Volta Region of Ghana. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple regression, and an indirect-effect analysis were applied. Relationship marketing was positively associated with CLV after adjustment for demographic controls (B = 0.154, SE = 0.042, t = 3.668, p < .001), and customer engagement was also positively associated with CLV (B = 0.326, SE = 0.059, t = 5.525, p < .001). In a separate mediation model based on the three focal constructs and unadjusted for demographic covariates, relationship marketing was positively associated with engagement (a = 0.417, SE = 0.030, p < .001), and engagement was positively associated with CLV after adjustment for relationship marketing (b = 0.268, SE = 0.073, p < .001). The estimated indirect effect was 0.112 (SE = 0.032; first-order delta-method 95% CI [0.050, 0.174]), while the residual direct association between relationship marketing and CLV was non-significant (c' = 0.028, SE = 0.052, p = .595). This pattern is consistent with an indirect-only statistical mediation interpretation. Because the study is cross-sectional, the mediation finding is interpreted as an associational pathway rather than evidence of temporal or causal mediation. The findings suggest that relationship-oriented banking practices and active customer engagement are jointly associated with longer-term customer-value outcomes.