B2B Channel Partner Programs: Disentangling Indebtedness from Gratitude |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Tongersestraat 53, 6211 LM, Maastricht, Netherlands;2. Marketing Division, Babson College, 213 Malloy Hall, Babson College, Babson Park, MA 02457, United States;3. Motivforce Marketing & Incentives, 16 Hanover Square, Mayfair, London W1S 1HT, United Kingdom;4. Statistics Netherlands/Centraal Bureau Voor de Statistiek, CBS-weg 11, 6412 EX Heerlen, Netherlands;1. Regents'' Professor, Richard and Susan Lenny Distinguished Chair Professor of Marketing at Georgia State University, United States;2. Chang Jiang Scholar, HUST, China;3. Center for Excellence in Brand and Customer Management, Department of Marketing, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States;1. Bank of America Research Professor of Business Administration, Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia, 100 Darden Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22903, United States;2. Landmark Communications Professor of Business Administration, Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia, 100 Darden Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22903, United States;3. Professor of Business Administration, Department of Marketing, Business Administration School of São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas, FGV/EAESP, Rua Itapeva, 474, CEP 01332-000, São Paulo, Brazil;4. Full Professor of Planning and Strategy, School of Economics and Business, FEARP, University of São Paulo, Bloco C, sl 64, CEP 14040-900, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil;1. Faculty of Business & Law, University of Northampton, Waterside Campus, NN1 5PH, United Kingdom;2. Module Conveyor: Managing Processes and Systems (MBA Programmes), Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK;3. MRes Informatics, Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK |
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| Abstract: | Many suppliers invest heavily in channel partner programs that incentivize selling and learning. The authors conduct a multi-wave field study to investigate the roles of indebtedness and gratitude in transforming these investments into returns. The results show that indebtedness has negative effects on commitment to the supplier, as well as the reseller's sales effort. Gratitude however attenuates the effects of indebtedness on sales effort and commitment, and thus offers a buffer against indebtedness’ negative effects. Indebtedness and gratitude thus play key roles in channel partner programs. In addition, the results highlight the importance of perceived motives as they differentially predict these two states. Benevolent motives are found to increase gratitude, though ulterior motives do not detract from it. Ulterior motives do however increase indebtedness. Finally, the results also reveal how entitlement negatively impacts channel partner programs: It decreases the positive effect of perceived program value on partner gratitude while increasing the effect of ulterior motives on indebtedness. This study thus assesses the simultaneous yet contrasting role of gratitude and indebtedness, as well as the complexity associated with realizing the full benefits of channel partner programs. The findings have implications for suppliers, marketers, and further research. |
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| Keywords: | Indebtedness Gratitude Motives Entitlement Relationship marketing |
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