Business Relationship Marketing Research Articles

Conceptual blending of meanings in business marketing relationships

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the topic of embodiment as a gap in meaning-making within the literature on business relationships in IMP and business marketing academic discourse. Referring to the theories of embodiment, the authors question the dominant worldview of Cartesian dualism which marginalizes the influence of the body in meaning-making and explore relevant implications of an embodiment agenda for research and practice. The aim is to demonstrate that embodiment has a vitally important influence in the construction of meanings.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides a review of theoretical and empirical literature on embodied cognition and theories of embodiment to construct a cooking metaphor as an analogical vehicle for exploring meanings within business relationships.FindingsThe authors use a cooking metaphor to explore how meaning is created in human interaction. Body and mind blended together produce meaning through the catalyst of discourse and semiotics. Cognition is described as a mixture of rational and non-rational processes involving blended elements of embodied perceptions and psychological ideas stirred and heated in a semiotic “sauce” of discourse (language, communication, information, power/knowledge).Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper is in proposing that both body and mind influence the creation of meanings in business relationships blended through the mediation of language and discourse. The authors aim to advance a “practice” and “linguistic” turn in the business marketing discourse by proposing that embodied, discursive and cognitive processes are more effectively conceived as blended influences.

Complementary Effects of Marketing Network and Structure holes on Supplier’s Perceived New Product Development Performance of Buyer: Moderating Effect of Technological Uncertainty

Marketing networks are critical competitiveness in terms of firm’s resource acquisition ability; however, their impact on new product development performance remains uncertain, especially under technological uncertainty. This study examines how complementary effects of marketing networks, network embededness and structural holes, influence new product development performance under conditions reflecting technological uncertainty. The empirical test was conducted with a Korean engineering firm’s major first-tier suppliers in the context of internal network entities, manufacturer- supplier-subsupplier relationships. Construct measures were based on existing measures and previous research. The survey results indicate that only network embeddedness influences major first-tier suppliers’ perception of buyer’s new product development performance. To ensure empirical support for marketing network effects on new product development performance, cultural aspect such as collectivism, which reflects unique Korean business to business marketing relationships, should be considered for future research.

One-to-One and One-to-Many Business Relationship Marketing: Toward a Theoretical Framework

ABSTRACT Purpose. This work addresses mixed findings in relationship marketing literature regarding the importance of micro-level (interpersonal) relationships on firm outcome. Methodology/Approach: The article leverages impression formation theory to advance a framework to understand one-to-one and one-to-many marketing relationships to better predict firm outcome. Findings: The authors suggest that 5 framework moderators—the type and consistency of the encounters, relationship age, purchase frequency, relationship interruptions, and two customer side characteristics (i.e., need to evaluate [NTE] and need for cognitive closure [NFCC]”)—can qualify the relationship building process and impact the effectiveness of interpersonal and/or group relationships on firm outcome. Practical Implications: The framework suggests that (1) highly consistent sales team behaviors reduce the risk of losing business in case of a sales team member leaving; (2) low frequency purchases are better suited for one-to-many selling relationships; (3) temporarily suspending relationships by individual salespeople is more harmful than suspending relationships by sales teams; (4) involving the customer in the acquisition process facilitates team selling; and (5) a positive first impression is more important for high (vs. low) NFCC and high NTE customers. Originality/Value. The theoretical framework (1) distinguishes between individual-to-individual and individual-to-group relationships, (2) suggests a distinction between micro-level individual-to-individual and individual-to-group relationships and macro-level individual-to-firm relationships, (3) analyzes the impact of micro-level relationships under the influence of context-related and customer-related factors, and (4) provides managerially relevant guidelines for strategic sales planning.

A Study on the Factors of Business to Business Relationship Marketing in Wine Supplier and Food Service Firm Relationship

A Study on the Factors of Business to Business Relationship Marketing in Wine Supplier and Food Service Firm Relationship

A Study on the Factors of Business to Business Relationship Marketing in Wine Supplier and Food Service Firm Relationship

A Study on the Factors of Business to Business Relationship Marketing in Wine Supplier and Food Service Firm Relationship

Do we really understand business marketing? Getting beyond the RM and BM matrimony

PurposeA large number of researchers and marketing textbooks see business marketing dominantly from the relationship marketing perspective. One can even talk about a “matrimony” of these domains; “RM=BM”. The Contemporary Marketing Practices studies, however, provide clear evidence of the coexistence of various marketing practices but offer no supporting theoretical rationale for these findings. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question whether business marketing and relationship marketing, when broadly defined to include all relational‐interactional perspectives, are necessarily wedded to each other.Design/methodology/approachA metatheoretical analysis was conducted to identify the contributions and limitations of the current research approaches to business marketing and a configurational approach for marketing (CAM) was developed, providing theoretical explanation for the empirical findings versus relationship dominance dilemma.FindingsThe metatheoretical analysis showed that research into business marketing relationships is not monolithic; that each tradition is useful for specific purposes, domains and activities; and that none helps understand why there are multiple ways in which firms relate to their markets. A conceptual CAM framework was developed that allows one to identify possible configurational marketing profiles (i.e. identifying different equivalently valid ways of relating to a business environment).Research limitations/implicationsIt is contended that the configuration approach for marketing permits other configurations to co‐exist beyond the RM‐BM matrimony. CAM provides a conceptual framework that can host the “puzzling” empirical results of the contemporary marketing practices studies.Practical implicationsThe CAM frame suggests that managers should carefully examine the internal logic of their marketing‐related configuration. Performance should be enhanced if the three elements – managerial frame of reference, organization/environment relationship, marketing mode – are coherent.Originality/valueThe configurational approach for marketing helps one to understand why firms relate to the business marketing environment with a multiplicity of marketing modes, showing that the BM‐RM matrimony is but one possible configuration.

Toward an encompassing theory of business marketing relationships (BMRS) and interpersonal commercial relationships (ICRS): An empirical generalization

This paper explores business marketing relationships (BMRs) and interpersonal commercial relationships (ICRs). The literature in these two areas is analyzed to develop an overarching theoretical understanding of how marketing relationships function in the marketplace. The authors create empirical generalizations by analyzing the interrelationships among constructs that researchers have studied in a variety of operationalizations and settings during the past decade. This analysis is used to build a conceptual model for marketing relationships as they are studied in BMRs and ICRs. The authors then compare the models in order to develop a higher-level conceptual understanding of relational phenomena.

Toward an encompassing theory of business marketing relationships (BMRS) and interpersonal commercial relationships (ICRS): An empirical generalization

Toward an encompassing theory of business marketing relationships (BMRS) and interpersonal commercial relationships (ICRS): An empirical generalization

Partnering relationship activities: Building theory from case study research

Both qualitative and quantitative techniques are used to gain an understanding of partnering activities in manufacturer-distributor relationships. This article is a meta-analytic summary of data gained from semi-structured interviews conducted by multiple teams of researchers. The process of building theory from case study research is illustrated in the context of business marketing relationships using guidelines developed by Eisenhardt (1989). Based on the results of our analyses, partnering activities are generally geared more toward marketing, planning, and communication between firms. Surprisingly, there were few reported incidences of partnering activities in logistics and information exchange (i.e., electronic access to information between firms).