How co-branding versus brand extensions drive consumers' evaluations of new products: A brand equity approach

Current research into co-branding and brand extensions indicates that these marketing strategies benefit firms, yet marketing literature examines the concepts only independently. This article reports the findings of two studies, conducted among 256 students, that compare the effectiveness of co-branding versus brand extension strategies. The comparison of these strategies, both individually and concurrently, considers consumers' attitudes, quality perceptions, and purchase intentions toward a new product (i.e., Bluetooth-enabled sunglasses). The first study reveals that the presence of at least one high-equity brand in co-branding strategy suffices to leverage consumers' evaluations of a new product. However, the findings of the second study indicate no significant differences between co-branding and brand extensions in terms of consumer evaluations of an identical product.     

Perceptions of Change in Business Relationships and Networks

Our research deals with the role of actors in change in business relationships and networks. In this study, we explore how cognitive elaboration of experience of a relationship affects the relationship development. The link between behaviors and cognitive elaborations has been the object of recent research in marketing, but little attention has been given to the issue of cognition and behaviors when actors interact in business relationships. Given the role of relationships and their dynamics for the development of business networks, we believe that the issue deserves more attention. Also, compared to the interest in the space dimension of business networks, i.e., network pictures, perceptions of time have been under-investigated. We report findings from 84 bilateral interviews with managers involved as customers or suppliers in 21 relationships with ICT Security at two points in time. We collected their interpretations and reinterpretations of past developments, outcomes, and desired outcomes of the relationships in which they were involved. Our data suggest that the link between managers' cognitive elaborations and relationship dynamics is less direct than commonly assumed. We argue that evolution of a relationship cannot be explained by individual interpretations of the parties involved in the relationship; a preliminary finding is that actors' intentions appear more to shape the interpretations, rather than the contrary.     

Tripartite role of communications in channel relationships: Mitigating exchange hazards,reducing opportunism,and curtailing its ill effects on relationship performance

Mitigating channel members' opportunism is critical for supplier firms to maintain superior channel relationships and sustain relationship performance. Research in marketing channels suggests that supplier-channel member communication is vital for reducing information asymmetry and developing relational bonds in channel relationships. Building on that, in this research, we integrate information asymmetry and relationship-based views to articulate how communication, directly and indirectly, influences channel members' opportunism and curtail its ill effects on relationship performance. Based on the matched data from 239 supplier-distributor dyads, we find that communications (instrumental and social) have tripartite effects on channel outcomes, i.e., a) it directly reduces channel members' opportunism, b) weakens (negatively moderate) the positive effects of exchange hazards (antecedents) on opportunism and c) curtail the ill effects of opportunism on relationship performance. Additionally, we find that instrumental and social communications can have nuanced effects on channel members' opportunism. We provide newer insight into the role of communications in managing channel outcomes and present important theoretical and managerial implications.     

More is not always better: The impact of relationship functions on customer-perceived relationship value

Customer–supplier relationships have been promoted as a source of value for customers and as a way for suppliers to differentiate. Customer-perceived relationship value (i.e., a customer's overall assessment of the benefits and sacrifices of a given relationship with a supplier) is driven by relationship functions (i.e., the co\ntributions a supplier makes to a customer's value-creation processes). Earlier research categorizes relationship functions into two groups: direct, operation-related functions and indirect, change-related functions. This research finds that indirect functions have less impact than direct functions. Given the widely discussed advantages of supplier involvement in customer innovation, and the importance of information, access to market actors and motivation, this study analyzes why change-related functions have less of an impact than operation-related functions. The empirical results reveal that change-related relationship functions have a non-linear, inverted u-shaped impact on relationship value, and that the degree of customer innovativeness moderates this impact. Thus, while an analysis of all relationship functions is necessary, suppliers wishing to optimize business relationships should pay particular attention to customer innovativeness. The non-linear impact of change-related relationship functions gives rise to several interesting avenues for further research.     

Value synergy and value asymmetry in relationship marketing programs

Prior research advocates a positive, linear association between relationship investments and relationship performance. Our study challenges this conventional wisdom and advances the extant literature by investigating the potential curvilinear effects of suppliers' different relationship marketing programs (i.e., social, financial, and structural) on dyadic perceptions of relationship value. From an analysis of 113 buyer-supplier dyads, we found that social programs enhance relationship value synergy, but their effect on relationship value asymmetry between suppliers and buyers follows a U-shaped curve. On the other hand, we observe a positive and increasing returns-to-scale effect of financial programs on relationship value synergy and its inverted U-shaped association with supplier's relationship value asymmetry. Interestingly, structural programs increase relationship value synergy and have a stronger effect on increasing relationship value for the supplier than for the buyer. In addition, we find that structural programs are more effective in creating value in long-term relationships than in short-term relationships; therefore, as the relationship with a buying firm ages, managers should consider investing more in structural programs to develop their relationship. However, in long-term relationships, managers should avoid investing too much in financial programs because financial programs are less effective in increasing creation of relationship value as a relationship ages.     

Customer attractiveness,supplier satisfaction and preferred customer status: Introduction,definitions and an overarching framework

Industrial markets are frequently characterized by an oligopolistic market structure. As a result, suppliers may become highly selective with respect to decisions that involve collaborating with certain customers. Buying firms must therefore be more attractive than their rivals to obtain opportunities to collaborate with these selective suppliers. This apparently counterintuitive inversion of the classical marketing approach (that is, relationships that involve buyers competing for suppliers rather than the other way round) constitutes the foundation of the special issue that is introduced in this paper. In this paper, we present key terms and propose a model of preferred customership that uses a social exchange perspective to link customer attractiveness, supplier satisfaction and preferred customer status. The papers that contribute to this special issue are introduced within the context of this framework. Finally, this paper concludes with suggestions for future research directions.     

Supplier traits for better customer firm innovation performance

Previous research on embedded ties with suppliers in an innovation context has ignored the need for customer firms to assess and select suppliers on the basis of market orientation strategies and relationship marketing attributes. To address this void, this study investigates the effects of suppliers' downstream customer orientation and supplier-customer homophily (i.e., similarity of the supplier and the customer) on the customers' innovation performance. Data pertaining to new product development projects with contributions from supplier firms was collected on both sides of the supplier-customer dyad. The analysis shows that downstream customer orientation and supplier-customer homophily have a significant impact on the customer firms' new product efficiency (i.e., project cost and project speed) and new product effectiveness (i.e., innovativeness), which in turn positively influence new product performance in terms of profitability, market share, and growth.     

The interplays of coopetition,conflicts, trust,and efficiency process innovation in vertical B2B relationships

In this study, we examine the interplays among coopetition, conflicts, trust, and efficiency process innovation in vertical business-to-business (B2B) relationships. We posit that, in vertical B2B relationships, coopetition is positively associated with efficiency process innovation. Such association is also mediated by conflicts (i.e., affective and cognitive), thus resulting in the indirect effects of vertical coopetition on efficiency process innovation through affective and cognitive conflicts. In addition, we hypothesize that the conflict-based indirect effects are contingent on the trust level in the coopetitive relationships. We then empirically test the proposed hypotheses, using survey data collected from two international trade fairs. The results yield support for the positive association between vertical coopetition and efficiency process innovation. The mediating role of affective conflict in the indirect effect of vertical coopetition on efficiency process innovation is also supported, but that of cognitive conflict is not. Finally, the results indicate that trust moderates the indirect effect of vertical coopetition on efficiency process innovation through cognitive conflict but not through affective conflict. The implications of our findings for future research and managerial practices are also discussed.     

The effects of distributor relationship commitment and relationship exploration on opportunism: The moderating roles of exchange uncertainties and network factors

Channel management entails both the evaluating of incumbent business partners and simultaneously seeking potential new partners. In supplier–distributor exchanges, distributors can explore alternative suppliers while still committing to incumbent suppliers. While the current literature has demonstrated the importance of relationship commitment, the consequences of relationship exploration and whether that exploration is harmful to any incumbent relationships remain unclear. Drawing from relational governance and social network theories, this study thus examines how distributor dual relationship strategies of commitment and exploration influence their opportunistic behavior. The findings from a survey of 328 distributor firms indicate that relationship commitment leads to reduced opportunism; yet relationship exploration exerts no significant main effect on opportunism. More interestingly, these effects are subject to two types of uncertainty and two characteristics of distributor network wherein the focal exchange relationship resides. Specifically, behavioral uncertainty—an internal source of uncertainty—aggravates the opportunism that arises from both strategies, whereas, environmental uncertainty—an external source of uncertainty—alleviates both these effects. The distributor's network density weakens the effect of relationship commitment on opportunism, but network centrality strengthens this effect. By contrasting relationship commitment with relationship exploration under multiple moderating conditions, this study advances the extant channel relationship management literature and practice.     

Supplier adaptation: A qualitative investigation of customer and supplier perspectives

Differing views and goals in the buyer–supplier dyad can create underlying tension in supply chain relationships. Although research recognizes that adaptation is often expected from both customers and suppliers in exchange relationships, researchers have not adequately explored the long-range relational implications of customer adaptation requests. This research uses data from two qualitative focus groups to examine the interaction of customers and suppliers surrounding adaptation, as prior research has not yet considered how the customer's response to adaptation may change if they are aware of how the supplier actually perceives and evaluates specific adaptation requests. The first focus group included 20 active participants representing both customer and supplier perspectives, while the second focus group included five participants to provide a more in-depth examination of issues that emerged in the first focus group. Results suggest that customers' and suppliers' adaptation expectations differ; each has difficulty recognizing adaptation conflict because of perceived benefits and biases surrounding adaptation. Results suggest several adaptation conflict management behaviors are utilized to minimize its negative impacts on supply chain relationships, including blameshifting, justifying and negotiating techniques. Results suggest that trust can create blind spots in relationships, potentially causing customers and their suppliers to have difficulty recognizing conflict until it deteriorates relationships' foundational trust.     

Demand‐side strategy,relational advantage,and partner‐driven corporate scope: The case for client‐led diversification

Research Summary: We advance research on corporate diversification by joining insights from the demand‐side and relational views in strategy to offer a novel theory of client‐led diversification. We propose that client‐led diversification results from a combination of the customer‐driven opportunities emphasized in the demand‐side view and the creation of added value through relational assets that is a central tenet of the relational view. Furthermore, we hypothesize that suppliers’ client‐specific knowledge, clients’ relational commitment to suppliers, and growth opportunities in clients’ markets (relative to the suppliers’ own markets) will magnify the client‐led diversification effect. We test our hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset on patent law firms and their diversification into new domains of patent prosecution work for their corporate clients. Managerial Summary: Explanations of why firms diversify into new lines of business have largely concerned the redeployment of underutilized resources, with little regard to opportunities or influences stemming from firms’ existing customers. In our article, we show how the changing scope of business needs from a knowledge‐based supplier firm's set of existing clients is a central driver of supplier‐firm diversification, and this is especially the case when the level of relational assets shared between a supplier and its clients is higher. In a competitive landscape where suppliers compete intensively for the business of clients, our results show how managers can increase the likelihood of capturing additional business from its existing exchange relationships rather than bearing the risks of seeking new exchange relationships.     

Toward a social fitness perspective on contract design: Contract legitimacy and influence strategy

The effectiveness of contracts in terms of cooperative efficiency and relational outcomes in interorganizational relationships has become critical in today's volatile markets. However, extant research on the effect of contracts on trust has found inconsistent results, possibility because of its overwhelming focus on an economic fitness perspective at the expense of a social fitness perspective. Drawing insights from institutional theory, we focus on legitimacy building in interfirm contract design, investigate how contract legitimacies (i.e., regulative, normative, and cognitive) influence the effectiveness of interfirm contract design, and further explore the moderating effects of influence strategies that are applied in the process of contract implementation. Using longitudinal field survey data and archival data, this study finds that the three types of contract legitimacy play different roles in influencing compliance and trust and that noncoercive influence strategies can improve the effectiveness of regulative and normative legitimacy better than coercive influence strategies on trust. The findings offer new theoretical and managerial insights into the role of institutional environments in the effectiveness of contract design in manufacturer–distributor relationships.     

Social capital in buyer-supplier relationships: A review of antecedents,benefits, risks,and boundary conditions

The concept of social capital advocates that the goodwill available from relations is a valuable resource that can facilitate collective actions. Although social capital has recently gained momentum in the buyer-supplier relationship (BSR) literature, there is a surprising lack of consensus about its antecedents, benefits, risks, and boundary conditions in such relationships. To address this void, a systematic literature review of seventy articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2002 and 2018 was undertaken. The review identified and discusses two types of antecedents that can give rise to social capital in BSRs, namely intrafirm-level and relationship-level antecedents (i.e., structural and relational). It reveals that social capital can lead to a variety of benefits, in the form of direct performance improvements (e.g., operational) and relationship benefits (e.g., knowledge sharing), however that these benefits may vary depending on a number of boundary conditions in BSRs (e.g., contract specificity). The review also highlights that although social capital can generate benefits, it can also lead to risks that can undermine the performance and evolution of BSRs (e.g., reduced exploratory learning), suggesting a ‘double-edged sword’ effect. The paper concludes by summarizing current research gaps and outlining promising directions for future research.     

Buyer-seller relationships along channels of distribution

This paper uses a conceptualization of the IMP model of buyer-seller interactions in examining the stability of relationship-building constructs at different levels of a traditional distribution channel. It examines the relative importance of five constructs as determinants of upstream (i.e. with suppliers) and downstream (i.e. with customers) business relationships and tests for possible misalignment between channel intermediaries. The findings offer empirical support for the model structure and the functional perspective of channel structures is employed in explaining differences. In addition, this research provides considerable evidence to suggest that there is greater emphasis placed in the development of relationships with customers than suppliers.     

The impact of team‐member exchange,differentiation, team commitment,and knowledge sharing on R&D project team performance

This paper integrates team‐member exchange (TMX), affective commitment, and knowledge sharing to examine how work unit TMX influences employees' R&D project team commitment and intention to share knowledge, and how team knowledge‐sharing intention and TMX differentiation influences team performance. The results support the relationships between work unit TMX and employees' intention to share knowledge and team commitment. In addition, the results show that work unit TMX increases intention to share knowledge through increasing group members' team commitment. At the group level, the results support the relationships between team knowledge‐sharing intention and team performance. The results also show that TMX differentiation moderates the relationship between work unit TMX and team performance. That is, greater work unit TMX is more likely to achieve higher team performance in a team with low TMX differentiation as opposed to a team with high TMX differentiation. Implications for theory building, future research, and R&D management are discussed.     

Temporal dynamics of trust in ongoing inter-organizational relationships

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study undertaken to understand the nature of trust and its consequences for both suppliers and buyers in short term (relatively new) and long term (older/more mature) relationships in inter-organizational contexts. Scholars have recently pointed out the importance of research that investigates the temporal characteristics and dynamics of trust in inter-organizational studies. Our paper responds to this call by indentifying the changing nature of the level of trust as the buyer–supplier relationship matures. Our findings contribute to sparse and conflicting previous research on the relationship between length of partnership and perceptions of trust, types of dark side consequences of trusting relationships, and reasons buyers and suppliers continue or terminate low/no-trust associations. Specifically, we illustrate that buyers and suppliers draw on substantially different metaphors for understanding the nature of trust in long and short term exchange relationships. Suppliers see marked differences in trust with long term versus short term exchange partners, while buyers see little or no difference. Suppliers and buyers also appear to have different conceptions of how trust is nested (or not) within the broader economic and/or personal relationship. Through our inductive model, we elaborate several types of betrayal and disappointment, distinguish several factors that lead suppliers and buyers to stay in relationships with partners they don't trust, and identify key issues that topple untrusting relationships into terminated relationships.     

Comparing the resource‐based and relational views: knowledge transfer and spillover in vertical alliances

We compare resource‐based and relational perspectives to examine competitive advantages within the context of vertical learning alliances. Previous research has shown that through such alliances suppliers acquire knowledge to forge new capabilities and attain performance improvements. We ask whether such improvements are exclusive to the learning partnership, or are available in other average partnerships of this supplier. We posit that the extent to which such performance improvements are partnership exclusive depends on whether the newly forged capabilities lie entirely within the supplier firm's boundaries, or at the learning dyad level. As such, we untie two forms of performance improvements arising from learning dyads. While the resource‐based view helps explain the performance gains learning suppliers deploy across average partners, the relational view reveals the additional performance edge that remains exclusive to the learning partnership. Based on empirical evidence from a survey of 253 suppliers to the equipment industry, we find that partnership exclusive performance (i.e., ‘relational performance’), the true source of learning dyads' competitive advantage, is a function of suppliers acquiring know‐how within the dyad, developing dyad‐specific assets and capabilities, and structuring buyer‐supplier relational governance mechanisms. We discuss implications for research and practice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Innovation Performance in New Product Development Teams in China's Technology Ventures: The Role of Behavioral Integration Dimensions and Collective Efficacy

In emerging markets, technology ventures increasingly rely on new product development (NPD) teams to generate creative ideas and to mold these innovative ideas into streams of new products or services. However, little is known about how behavioral integration (a behavioral team process) and collective efficacy (a motivational team process) jointly facilitate or inhibit team innovation performance in emerging markets—especially in China, the world's largest emerging‐market setting with collectivist and high power distance cultures. Drawing on social cognitive theory and behavioral integration research, this article elucidates the relationships between behavioral integration dimensions (i.e., collaborative behavior, information exchange, and joint decision‐making) and innovation performance and also examines how collective efficacy moderates these relationships in China's NPD teams. Results from a sample of 96 NPD teams in China's technology ventures reveal that information exchange is positively associated with innovation performance. Collaborative behavior positively but marginally influences innovation performance, whereas joint decision‐making does not relate to innovation performance. Moreover, collective efficacy demonstrates an important moderating role. Specifically, both collaborative behavior and joint decision‐making are more positively associated with innovation performance when collective efficacy is higher. In contrast, information exchange is less positively associated with innovation performance when collective efficacy is higher. This study makes important theoretical contributions to the literature on team innovation and behavioral integration in emerging markets by offering a better understanding of how behavioral and motivational team processes jointly shape innovation performance in China's NPD teams. This study also extends social cognitive theory by identifying collective efficacy as a boundary condition for the overall effectiveness of behavioral integration dimensions. In particular, this study highlights the condition under which behavioral integration dimensions facilitate or inhibit NPD team innovation performance in China.     

“I want you back”: On the strategic roles of boundary spanners in supplier switching-back processes

This paper builds upon literature addressing boundary spanners and switching suppliers in order to explore an under-examined aspect of buyer–supplier relationships: how different individuals at multiple organisational levels affect processes by which firms return, or “switch back”, to former suppliers after breaches in their relationships. Our study followed a qualitative approach by applying an abductive research methodology to make sense of 85 semi-structured interviews with executives involved in the erstwhile buyer–supplier relationships that we investigated. We found that supplier switching-back processes (SSBPs) can be understood as constituted by a set of alignments and misalignments between boundary spanners (i.e. top management, purchasing and sales agents, engineers and technicians) in the organisations involved. Thus, peoples' interactions, or lack thereof, directly affect the possibility for buyers and suppliers to restore their severed relationships. We conclude that boundary spanners pursue seven distinct roles during different periods in SSBPs, roles that relate to three identified functions of boundary spanners in such processes. The paper closes by highlighting what our findings imply for business managers, limitations and some possible directions for future research.     

Investor activism,managerial responsiveness,and corporate social performance

We study relationships between shareholder proposal activism, managerial response, and corporate social performance (CSP). We find that shareholder proposal activism reduces CSP. We infer that rather than pressuring firms to improve CSP, activism may engender diversion of resources away from CSP into political activities used by managers to resist external pressures and retain discretion. We also find that managers are more likely to settle proposals filed by ‘salient’ shareholders (i.e., those with power, legitimacy, and urgency). Settlement with salient shareholders, however, also reduces CSP, suggesting that managers' responses are symbolic; i.e., they settle with salient shareholders to demonstrate conformance but continue to resist making the substantive changes to core policies that may compromise their discretion. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.