بررسی انواع رابطه جهت ایجاد ارزش برند برای نمایندگی فروش
Highlights
Abstract
Keywords
1. Introduction
2. Literature review & hypothesis development
3. Research method
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Summary, limitations and future research directions
Appendix A. Total variance explained
Appendix B. Study constructs and scale items, descriptive statistics, factor loadings and reliabilities
References
Abstract
This study investigates three different types of brand-reseller business relationships, namely real-time relationship, collaborative relationship, and mutually beneficial relationship, and discusses how they drive brand value creation in a competitive market. Using data collected from Indian resellers, the findings show that brands that engage in real-time and collaborative relationships are regarded by resellers as having higher brand value in comparison to brands that only focus on mutually beneficial relationships. This paper extends previous understanding on relationship marketing by conceptually discussing and empirically examining different types of business relationships that could be used to enhance brand values perceived by resellers. Managerial implications are discussed for business-to-business marketing practitioners. Specifically brand managers are advised to incorporate these three different types of business relationships to create superior brand value for resellers, thus improving their brands' perceived competitiveness.
1. Introduction
Due to resource limitations, resellers are often employed by global brands to reach their intended customers located in international markets. However, when resellers fear that a brand may be underperforming and cannot satisfy the requirements of their business, they are likely to move away to competitors and spend less time on promoting the brand or its products (Saren & Tzokas, 1998). A reason for such movements of resellers in a distribution network is that resellers do not want to lose their own set of customers to other resellers (Ailawadi & Farris, 2017; Webster, 2000). Hence, they overlook their existing association with a brand and sell whichever brands are available in order to retain their customers and preserve their own revenue (Aaker & Day, 1986). In order to avoid such situations, business relationship literature recommends brands to develop good relationships with their resellers to better understand and fulfil these resellers' business requirements and secure the brand competitive advantages within the distribution network (Gupta, Melewar, & Bourlakis, 2010a; Kotler, 1974). However, in reality the situations between brands and resellers are very dynamic and brand managers are unable to restrict their own distributors (through whom they sell to resellers) from offering rival products of their competitors (Beverland, Napoli, & Lindgreen, 2007). This pressing matter has led brand managers to consider employing different facets of their relationships with resellers as tools to strengthen the brand-reseller relationships. Relationships with resellers can help brand managers become more informed of the customers' needs, and develop a unique and advantageous brand positioning, without the involvement of the distributors. Value created directly by a brand manager's relationships with resellers can help improve the resellers' business performance, and strengthens the brand's positioning in competitive markets (Duncan & Moriarty, 1998; Shocker, Srivastava, & Ruekert, 1994). Nevertheless whilst existing literature reflects on the benefits of having good business relationships, it has not discussed how different types of relationships could be employed to effectively manage the brand-reseller relationships. Acknowledging this knowledge gap, this study thus proposes to investigate different types of business relationships and their effect on enhancing perceived brand values, in order to address the pressing need of businesses and brand managers who struggle to manage their brand-reseller relationships effectively in competitive markets.