UNIVERSITY OF UYO JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES

The paper examines how Aristotle's philosophy of friendship brings about a new model of marketing strategy known here as “The friendship Model of Marketing” in relationship marketing. The nature of friendship and the conditions of interpersonal attraction as expounded in Aristotle's philosophy of friendship creates the platform for the development the friendship model of marketing. The paper argues that the non-recognition of friendship as a center-piece of relationship marketing promotes the absolute formulization of brand customer relationship in contemporary times. This oversight in recognizing the friendship condition of business interaction undermines the success of many business enterprises in Nigeria, which leads to social and economic stagnation. Against this backdrop, this paper combines the insights of relationship marketing and Aristotle's philosophy of friendship to build a friendship model of marketing in order to position business enterprises to key into interpersonal attraction so as to connect brands emotionally with consumers. It argues that friendship virtues such as trustworthiness, commitment, honesty, integrity, empathy, altruism, reciprocity form the foundation for successful business engagements. The paper concludes that the adoption of friendship model of marketing in business interactions fosters a reciprocity of goodwill between brands and consumers which ultimately leads to sustainable business growth and development

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