Relationship learning and international customer involvement in new product design: The moderating roles of customer dependence and cultural distance

Abstract

This study focuses on relationship learning and its implications for international customer involvement during the design stage of the new product development (NPD) process. It utilizes relationship learning capability perspective to investigate the linkages between relationship learning, international customer involvement, and suppliers' performance. We also investigate whether customer dependence and cultural distance moderate the association between (a) relationship learning and international customer involvement and (b) international customer involvement and supplier performance. Using 264 respondents from Chinese manufacturing firms that have international customers, this study identifies that international customer involvement partially mediates the link between relationship learning and supplier performance. Furthermore, customer dependence strengthens, and cultural distance weakens, the effect of relationship learning on international customer involvement. However, only cultural distance negatively moderates the relationship between international customer involvement and supplier performance.