Guest editorial: research themes in retailing

This paper is designed to address the differences among competitors in the use of interfirm influence strategies, trying to discover tendencies in the use of each strategy, ranking the use of the different influence strategies and identifying the type of strategy used by each manufacturer. Data were gained by a mail survey of the major computer manufacturers in Spain. Empirical research has been undertaken in order to build the constructs 'coercive influence' and 'noncoercive influence', and they are ranked by level of use. Causal analysis is used to provide such analysis. Type of influence strategy adopted by suppliers is analysed. Grouping of computer manufacturers according to the type of influence strategy adopted is also provided.