Antecedents of Long-Term Buyer-Seller Relationships: A Cross Cultural Integration

Abstract

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper reviews past literature and proposes a model to compare the antecedents of buyer-seller long-term relationships across different cultures. Drawing on organizational buying behavior and channel relationship theories, a comprehensive causal model is developed of the moderating function national culture plays in determining long-term buyer-seller relationships. Our conceptual model is based on Hofstede's national culture dimensions--individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity--that alter the form of the relationship between antecedents and outcome variables. The paper ends with concluding remarks and suggestions for future research for enhancing the development of cross--cultural relationship marketing theory. Our paper offers a more comprehensive understanding of the similarities and differences in the relative importance of key 'success' variables contributing to long-term buyer-seller relationships on a global basis. Keywords: Commitment, communication; cooperation; interdependence; national culture, relationship duration, satisfaction, social bonding; structural bonding; satisfaction; trust. ********** The growth in popularity of relationship marketing has been explained as a response to the changed market environment, including heightened competition, changing structure of markets and increased sophistication of customers. We have observed firms alter their perspectives in an attempt to gain greater competitive advantage through relationships; firms have been shifting from adversarial interactions, typical of the arm's length, traditional buyer-seller transaction, to long-term relationships based on mutual advantage and survival. In this context, a major shift from a transaction to a relationship perspective is developing for the study of long-term buyer-seller relationships. Along with the emergence of the importance of relationships in market dealings, the globalization of the world economy has made it increasingly important for today's marketing managers to understand how to do business in different cultural contexts. Given the increasing importance of international business, cross-cultural research becomes more and more relevant to marketing academics and practitioners. A fuller understanding of consumer behavior as an academic discipline requires that the validity of models developed in one country be examined in other countries as well. A country's culture has long been identified as a key environmental characteristic underlying systematic differences in buyer-seller behavior. Cultural norms and beliefs are powerful forces shaping people's perceptions, dispositions, and behaviors (Aaker and Lee 2001; Markus and Kitayama, 1991). A society's culture determines the way its people interact by establishing appropriate beliefs and behavioral standards. Taking the above-mentioned problems into account, the primary objective of our conceptual paper is to expand the understanding of buyer-seller relationships by developing a model that incorporates cultural aspects. One important contribution that is introduced in our model is the moderating effect of national culture, defined with four of Hofstede's (2001) dimensions, on the nature of the buyer-seller relationship. In the remaining sections of this paper we develop the theoretical basis for the several moderating effects. Our paper is divided into four parts. After the introductory section, we propose our conceptual model and review the relevant literatures related to buyer-seller relationships and several national culture values embedded in it. Following the conceptual discussion, we propose a number of research propositions that link national cultural values to antecedents and outcome variables in our long-term buyer-seller relationship model. In the paper's final section, we discuss the model's strengths and weaknesses, and draw conclusions, managerial implications, and suggestions for future research. …

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