Securing business-to-business relationships: The impact of switching costs |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Newcastle University Business School, 5 Barrack Road, NE1 4SE Newcastle upon Tyne, UK;2. Aston Business School, Marketing Group, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK;3. Department of Marketing, University of Strathclyde, 173 Cathedral Street, G4 0RQ Glasgow, UK;1. School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, Bancroft Building, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom;2. Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 84, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia;3. Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, 5 Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4SE, United Kingdom;1. Antwerp Management School & University of Antwerp, Sint-Jacobsmarkt 9-13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium;2. Department of Economics, Society, Politics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi 42, 61029 Urbino, Italy;3. School of Business and Economics, Marketing and supply Chain Management, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, Netherlands;1. Department of Marketing, Monash University, PO Box 197, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia;2. Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
While the relationship marketing literature acknowledges the importance of switching costs for increasing customer retention, little is known about its relevance in industrial markets. In particular, it is unclear whether switching costs, and associated dimensions, impact on behavioral outcomes of buyer–seller relationships in business-to-business (B2B) markets. In order to contribute to theory development in this important area, our research first explores the dimensions of switching costs for the B2B domain and also tests the relative impact of these dimensions on business customers' actual purchase behavior. Results suggest that switching costs in B2B settings are a multi-faceted construct, including (i) procedural, (ii) financial, and (iii) relational switching costs. Moreover, we find relational switching costs to be most important for securing B2B buyer–seller relationships since they impact a customer's (a) share-of-wallet, (b) cross-buying behavior, and (c) actual switching behavior. While procedural switching costs only influence share-of-wallet, financial switching costs solely impact customer's cross-buying behavior. These findings contribute to a better understanding on how to secure B2B buyer–seller relationships. |
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