Buyers' perspectives of buyer-seller relationship development

Long-term buyer-seller relationships have been a focus of research for several years. The present study draws on interaction/network theory to test a model examining the interaction mechanisms and relationship characteristics of buyer-seller relationships during four progressive phases of relationship development. Data from 174 members of the Institute for Supply Management offer empirical support for the associations proposed in the model, as well as some surprising results. One of the most useful findings of the research is that the patterns of these associations vary as buyer-seller relationships progress through the four phases of relationship development. Specifically: in the awareness phase, joint problem solving increases buyer uncertainty; in the exploration phase, communication quality and joint problem solving increase relationship-specific investments; and in the expansion phase, joint problem solving increases relationship-specific investments and severe conflict resolution increases buyer uncertainty. Seller reputation moderates many of these relationships. The major conclusion of the research is that buyers and sellers should recognize that while information exchange and conflict resolution are important aspects of buyer-seller relationships, their use may not always lead to the desired relationship characteristics. Managerial implications of these findings and further research ideas are presented.     

Enabling relationship structures and relationship performance improvement: The moderating role of relational capital

Based on data from 248 asymmetric subcontractor–customer relationships in Finland, this study analyzes the direct impact of relationship structures, relational capital, and the subcontractor's relationship-specific investments on the improvement of operational relationship performance. In addition, the study investigates the moderating role of relational capital on the links between relationship structures, relationship-specific investments, and relationship performance improvement. We found that both relational capital and relationship-specific investments directly affect the relationship performance improvement, while relationship structures do not. However, relational capital positively moderates the link between relationship structures and relationship performance improvement by creating enabling structures. Thus, our findings contribute to the existing literature and discussion on enabling organizational and relationship structures by demonstrating how relational capital changes the role and impact of relationship structures.     

Is customer loyalty vulnerability-based? An empirical study of a Chinese capital-intensive manufacturing industry

Through cooperation, firms can work together to collectively enhance their performance by sharing resources so as to achieve complementary synergism; while assuring their own self interests by adapting some opportunistic tasks simultaneously to gain benefits. There are few studies on the key but hidden reality of relationship vulnerability — i.e., the dynamic process of both creating relationship value and making sacrifices. We aim to empirically investigate the dimensions of a vulnerability-based relationship (complementary synergism and opportunism) and its link with customer loyalty. A framework is proposed in order to give a new dynamic tool in understanding and implementing effective customer loyalty strategies. Our findings revealed that the level of a vulnerability-based relationship is reflected by the high levels of flexible customization, relationship-specific bonding, coercive integration, buyer idiosyncratic investment and a low level of self-interest seeking. A vulnerability-based relationship also has a positive impact on loyalty. Managerial implications of our study are described.     

Building capabilities via suppliers' effective management of relationships

This paper is an empirical study identifying the role of a relationship-specific capability of building capabilities through relationships (CBC) when suppliers put efforts into increasing their perceived market effectiveness by managing the effects of relationship quality. The relationship between relationship quality and effectiveness is mediated by CBC. Suppliers in a supply chain form different levels of relationship quality with partners in response to market conditions and industry characteristics. Relationship marketing by suppliers requires a deep understanding of the role of CBC that is developed by a supplier and an effective utilization of CBC to lead an effective relationship to better outcomes. This leads to maximizing of the competitive advantages for suppliers and will help maintain effective relationships.     

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.     

How value and trust influence loyalty in wireless telecommunications industry

Despite making significant investments in enhancing the customer service experience, long-term customer loyalty remains an elusive dream for many service providers. Particularly in the telecommunications industry, switching providers even from within continuous contract relationships is easy and companies struggle to retain their customers. Trust and value are considered cornerstones of long-term relationships, so it is perhaps surprising that previous research on how relationship age and usage level actually affect value, trust and loyalty is inconclusive. The current research is set in the telecommunications services field and draws on a large-scale survey undertaken in Finland. The findings support the contention that perceived value relates positively to loyalty, and that trust mediates that relationship. Surprisingly, in the telecommunications industry, increasing relationship age and usage level strengthen neither value and loyalty nor the links between trust and loyalty. The results may be explained by the unique characteristics of the highly competitive mobile telecommunications sector, and confirm the view that loyalty does not pay without strategies that value long-term customers and thereby build trust with new customers.     

Antecedents and consequences of relationship intention: Implications for transaction and relationship marketing

The terms relationship marketing (RM) and loyalty have been extensively promoted in marketing literature. Advocates of RM and loyalty have argued that RM leads to loyalty and loyalty leads to profitability. However, currently available evidence questions these arguments. We propose a term relationship intention. Relationship intention is willingness of a customer to develop a relationship with a firm while buying a product or a service attributed to a firm, a brand, and a channel. We build a multi-item scale for measuring relationship intention. We propose a framework, wherein we argue that the relationship intention is influenced by the customers' perceived firm equity, perceived brand equity, and perceived channel equity. We propose the consequences of relationship intention as being low cost to serve, price premium, word-of-mouth promotion, and company advertisement. We also argue that relationship intention moderates the association between lifetime duration and profitability. Finally, we discuss the managerial implications of relationship intention in terms of transaction and RM.     

Conceptualization and measurement of relationship quality: Linking relationship quality to actual sales and recommendation intention

Following over a decade of relationship marketing, this paper re-visits the notion of relationship quality to determine relational drivers of account profitability. Customer executives from multiple industries are interviewed to identify critical success factors in buyer-seller relationships. Based on their responses, a “back-to-the-basics,” grass roots approach to the measurement of relationship quality is offered. To further demonstrate its value for marketing practice, this measure of relationship quality is administered to a nationwide sample of key customer decision-makers to determine its link to profitable outcomes. The results support this measure as a driver of actual sales and recommendation intention.     

Customer identification: The missing link between relationship quality and supplier performance

Maintaining good relationship quality (RQ) with customers is crucial for supplier firms to remain competitive. Yet, empirical evidence linking RQ with supplier-firm performance remains inexplicably vague. Drawing on social identity theory and the relationship marketing literature, this study therefore examines the role of customer identification—a customer firm's sense of shared connection with a supplier organization—in bridging the gap between RQ and outcomes beneficial to the supplier firm. A study involving 389 CEOs and directors of Australian firms finds that customer identification mediates the effects of affective RQ-dimensions (i.e., benevolent trust and affective commitment) on customers' willingness-to-pay premium price (WTP) and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors. Further, the mediating effect of customer identification is moderated by organizational distance and supplier's relationship-specific investments (RSI), such that the indirect effects are stronger when the organizational distance between the supplier and customer firm is low and supplier's RSIs are high. Moreover, while cognitive RQ has direct effects on WTP, its influence on WOM is mediated by customer identification. By identifying the role of customer identification in facilitating the link between RQ and supplier-firm performance, our findings provide valuable insights for supplier firms to optimize their relationship marketing efforts.     

Supplier market orientation and accommodation of the customer in different relationship phases

As customers' needs have changed rapidly, market orientation has become a more primary focus of marketing literature. This study explores the strategies market-oriented suppliers use to accommodate customer needs. In addition, because buyer-seller relationships proceed through phases characterized by distinct behaviors, this study explores the relationship between market orientation and accommodation strategies over the course of the buyer-seller relationship lifecycle. The results show that market-oriented firms use flexibility and relationship-specific adaptation as accommodation strategies. Also, three market orientation components (customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination) relate differently to flexibility and relationship-specific adaptation during the relationship lifecycle. Finally, accommodation strategies significantly mediate the effects of the three market orientation components on customer satisfaction. Thus, market-oriented firms can satisfy their customers and avoid an overreliance on current relationships by emphasizing either flexibility or relationship-specific adaptations that correspond to the lifecycle of the relationship.     

Customer value anticipation, customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical examination

A service-dominant logic by definition is inherently customer oriented and relational, reflecting deeper and more complex connections between suppliers and customers. The service mindset driving increased collaboration enables suppliers to have deeper insights to what customers' value. Customer value perceptions are dynamic, sometimes in constant flux, necessitating anticipatory capabilities on the part of suppliers. Yet, there is a notable lack of discussion about customer value anticipation and related empirical evidence of whether or not customers care if suppliers anticipate what they value. The authors report on two survey studies that test using structural equation modeling the notion that suppliers good at anticipating what customers will value realize higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Understanding this relationship is critical for marketing managers wrestling with allocation of limited resources. We find that customer value anticipation is a strong driver of satisfaction and loyalty, with satisfaction acting as a mediator for loyalty.     

Market and supplier characteristics driving distributor relationship quality in international marketing channels of industrial products

Although we are beginning to comprehend the fundamental importance of relationship quality in interorganizational exchange, a relatively small, but growing, body of literature that has not kept pace with the tremendous growth in global channel transactions has been devoted to the development of cross-border relationship quality. This study addresses this gap in the literature by investigating the extent to which certain market and exporter characteristics affect the development of relationship quality in the context of importing distributors trading with exporting manufacturers of industrial products. Relationship quality is viewed as a higher-order construct composed of trust, commitment, and satisfaction. Findings reveal that psychic distance is related negatively to relationship quality, while transaction-specific investments and role performance are associated positively with relationship quality. No link is found between environmental uncertainty and relationship quality. Managerial implications of the findings are considered and limitations along with future research directions discussed.     

Relationship learning and innovation: The role of relationship-specific memory

This study investigates the relationship between relationship learning and innovation. It discusses the difference and relationship between knowledge flow and knowledge stock as embodied in relationship learning. Results show that information sharing and joint sensemaking (knowledge flow) are positively associated with relationship-specific memory (knowledge stock), and indirectly influence both explorative and exploitative innovation through their effects on relationship-specific memory. This study also examines the role of learning intent of individual firms in relationship learning. Results indicate that stronger learning intent enhances the effect of information sharing on relationship-specific memory. Finally, the study discusses several implications of this research and offers suggestions for future research.     

Product and relationship quality influence on customer commitment and loyalty in B2B manufacturing relationships

The article examines how product and relationship quality influence customer commitment along with their combined effect on customer loyalty. The results show that product quality influences positive and negative calculative commitment. With regard to relationship quality, its “social” dimensions such as cooperation and trust have a much greater influence on commitment than its “technical” dimensions such as knowledge transfers and adaptation. On the “social” side, cooperation and trust positively influence affective and normative commitment, with trust also positively affecting positive calculative commitment, while on the “technical” side the only significant link is between adaptation and normative commitment. As for the consequences of commitment, affective commitment positively influences attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, while negative calculative commitment positively influences behavioral loyalty. In addition to indirect effects, product quality also directly positively influences attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. The results imply that customer loyalty depends more on “emotional” (affective commitment) than on “rational” (negative calculative commitment and product quality) motivation to continue the relationship.     

The effect of social conflict on relationship loyalty in business markets

This study examines the impact of perceived social conflict on existing buyer-seller relationships. The results indicate that as the level of social conflict increases, perceptions about the loyalty of the relationship decrease. Perceived importance of the relationship had no impact on conflict or relationship loyalty. Ramifications of these findings for selling, sales management, and sales training are discussed.     

Key account relationships: An exploratory inquiry of customer-based evaluations

The management and retention of key accounts is imperative in facilitating a firm's long-term viability. Previous examinations of key account relationships have revealed valuable insights into the factors facilitating key account management and driving relationship strength. However, account managers often fail to recognize weaknesses within their existing key accounts and the sources of their relationship vulnerabilities. Utilizing an exploratory inquiry of in-depth interviews with 99 executive decision makers across 52 key accounts cases, the authors assess customer relationship evaluations prior to contract expirations for account retention opportunities valued at over $1.3 billion. Unique positive and negative drivers of key account relationship evaluations are identified in a thematic categorization, along with a subsequent content analysis highlighting their patterned associations with positive and negative relationship evaluations, future business intentions, and business referral behaviors. These patterned associations reveal that positive and negative perceptions of relational drivers often affect outcomes in a differential manner, resulting in a classification of conventional constructs, prevention constructs, and promotion constructs. The results indicate that the desire of a supplier to maximize positive relational outcomes or minimize negative relational outcomes is driven by distinct underlying associations and allow for insights into resource allocation strategies within key account relationships.     

Changes in sales call frequency: A longitudinal examination of the consequences in the supplier-customer relationship

Sales calls are one of the most valuable and expensive resources available to industrial sales managers. The main purpose of this research was to look at the relationship between an increase in sales call frequency and some important outcomes in the buyer-seller relationship. To do so, we adopted a longitudinal research design where data from 357 customers of one industrial supplier were obtained over a two-year period of time. Results indicated that an increase in call frequency has a positive effect on sales volume, perceived service quality, perceived value for money and overall customer satisfaction. Furthermore, these effects tend to diminish as relationships become longer, and are stronger at higher levels of hierarchy in the buying company.     

The influence of brand image and company reputation where manufacturers market to small firms: A customer value perspective

Branding research has largely focused on consumer goods markets and only recently has attention been given to business markets. In many business markets the company's reputation has a strong influence on buying decisions which may differ from the more specific product related influence of the brand's image. In this paper we investigate these differences by testing the hypotheses about the influences of brand image and company reputation on customers' perceptions of product and service quality, customer value, and customer loyalty in a business market where there are three manufacturers marketing their brands directly to a large number of small firms. The results indicate that the brand's image has a more specific influence on the customers' perceptions of product and service quality while the company's reputation has a broader influence on perceptions of customer value and customer loyalty.     

资产质量、盈余质量与企业价值的关系研究——基于中国创业板制造业上市公司的数据分析

为了研究影响企业盈余、企业价值取向的相关因素,选取中国制造业创业板上市公司2010-2014年的数据为样本,采用主成分分析和多元线性回归方法,对企业资产质量与盈余质量以及盈余质量与企业价值之间的关系进行了研究。研究表明:企业的资产质量越高,盈余管理程度越低,其盈余质量越高,即企业的资产质量与企业的盈余质量正相关;企业的盈余质量越高,价值越高,即企业的盈余质量与企业价值正相关。研究结果对于企业提升盈余质量、提高自身价值具有参考作用。     

Relationship-specific investments,social capital,and performance: The case of Korean exporter/foreign buyer relations

Relationship-specific investments are addressed as crucial factors for the successful management of the exporter–foreign buyer relationships. It is hypothesized that relationship-specific investments have a positive impact on social capital components such as trust and commitment, which in turn contribute to the relationship and business performance satisfaction between partners. On the basis of our analysis of the relationships between Korean exporters and their foreign buyers, the validity of the roles of relationship-specific investments and social capital are clearly demonstrated. The results provide us with a meaningful implication to the successful management of inter-firm relationships.