Buyer-Seller Interaction and Relationship Development in the Japanese Business Market

Abstract

The present study analyzes the nature of buyer-seller interaction and relationship development in the Japanese business market. Its objective is to contribute to enhancing knowledge about buyers’ decision process and supplier relationship development with regard to raw materials, equipment, and component parts. The following factors are central in the study: the decisive factors in the selection of a supplier and development of long-term buyer-seller interactions and relationships; the role of intermediaries (trading companies, manufacturer’s representatives, and marketing agents) in the development of these interactions and relationships; and the effects of environmental factors (culture, market structure, and government industrial policy) on the purchase decision process of buyers and the development of these interactions and relationships. These issues relate particularly to what Robinson, Faris & Wind (1967) have referred to in their well-known buygrid model of organizational buyer behavior as new task purchasing situation. The study has important managerial implications in the sense that it provides foreign suppliers of industrial products with the basis for developing appropriate market entry and growth strategies in this highly competitive environment. The paper is divided into seven sections as follows: 1 introduction, 2 review of the literature, 3 objective of the study, 4 research methodology, 5 hypotheses, 6 the findings and 7 conclusion and direction for future research.