Consumer Behaviour-Engagement and the purchase decision

A comment on my post on Peer Reviews influence Consumer Behaviour, on my blog at Customer Think yielded an interesting discussion- That accepted that social media influences consumer behaviour, but are consumers really concerned about developing relationships with companies..while Graham Hill thought otherwise,
John's theory on the value of customer engagement and his citation from the Economic Intelligence Unit Study,

"Increasingly, executives are finding that the winning differentiator is no longer the product or price, but the level of engagement—the degree to which a company succeeds in creating intimate long-term relationships with the customer or external stakeholder.
…engagement refers to the creation of a deeper, more meaningful connection between the company and the customer, and one that endures over time. Engagement is also seen as a way to create customer interaction and participation."

was thought provoking.

My take on this....

The value of product features and pricing cannot be disregarded at all, but engagement definitely adds a measure of trust to the buying environment and the payoff yielded by this engagement eventually is increased purchase intention.

Besides, why would consumers not be interested in building relationships with the companies?
studies reveal that in the case of the B2C category, emotional associations create a comfort,familiarity and convenience, leading to purchase decisions and in the B2B category, consumers want to partner with businesses that are reliable, fair, consistent, and cooperative-the key outcomes of relationship building.