With the evolution of relationship marketing, the concept of customer lifetime value (CLV) has been emerged and
discussed importantly. The purpose of this research was to examine the causal relationships among the four sub-dimensions
of customer lifetime value in the chain restaurant industry. Based on literature review, theoretical relationships among the
four sub-dimensions of CLV were derived and six hypotheses were proposed. To test the proposed theoretical relationships,
data was collected from 371 chain restaurant patrons. According to the data analysis, it was concluded that the four
sub-dimensions of CLV were highly interrelated, and they play significant role in maximizing CLV. Specifically, customer
acquisition not only influences customer retention, but also influences customer relationship expansion and customer
defection. Therefore, customer acquisition strategies should receive more attention from the perspective of chain restaurant
company's long-term success. Also, the mediating role of customer relationship expansion was found in the CLV formation
process. Based on data analysis, theoretical/empirical implications were discussed.
key words : Customer lifetime value, Customer acquisition, Customer retention, Customer relationship expansion,
Customer defection, Relationship marketing