Is the seven‐year hitch premature in industrial markets?

Abstract

PurposeThe paper reports on an exploratory study aimed at analysing a series of independent variables derived from international industrial marketing and channel management literature.Design/methodology/approachThe respondents represent a number of dyadic business‐to‐business relationships of different duration, and involve firms of different size (multinational enterprise buyers and their corresponding medium sized enterprise suppliers).FindingsInitial findings support much of the extant literature on relationship marketing, demonstrating that certain aspects of a relationship tend to change over time. In particular, the study revealed that: there is a high degree of optimism associated with dyadic relationships at early stages, and these are characterised by both parties having high initial perceptions of the relationship; in mid‐term relationships some negativity maybe apparent, where certain aspects regress; and in long‐term situations, there is a tendency for relationships to be well structured, and these are particularly highly perceived among both exchange parties.Research limitations/implicationsThe research approach shares those benefits as well as limitations associated with earlier empirical investigations. That is a trade‐off in favour of undertaking dyadic exploration, than administering large samples and data sets. As a consequence of the sample size, some caution should be exercised when interpreting these findings.Practical implicationsFirms need to pay particular attention to relationships of differing time duration. This is because specific aspects of relationships may not develop in a uniform direction.Originality/valueThe research attempts to unravel the complexities and difficulties associated with obtaining data of a dyadic perspective for a significant number of relationships of different length. Such studies that map the evolvement of buyer‐seller relations over time are rare.