Relationship building and behavioral outcomes: Exploring the connection between relationship attitudes and key constituent behavior

The field of public relations historically has been charged with managing relationships between organizations and publics. Those who build relationships with key constituents, however, struggle with determining whether relationship building activities influence key constituent behavior. The current investigation tracked college students in an attempt to better understand the role that relationship attitudes play in retention. The results showed that those respondents who identify themselves as in relationship with the university were much more likely to return. The investigation then sought to determine which university‐student relationship attitudes best differentiate those students who say they are in relationship with the university from those who say they are not or are uncertain. Those results showed that community relationships were strongly related, while the personal and professional relationships were substantially related to respondent self‐identification of being in relationship with the institution. The ramifications for relationship building, directions for future research, and limitations to the current investigation were presented.