Commitment in Marketing Channels: Mitigator or Aggravator of the Effects of Destructive Acts?

Journal of Retailing, Forthcoming

50 Pages Posted: 4 Jan 2012

See all articles by Stephen K. Kim

Stephen K. Kim

Iowa State University

Jonathan Hibbard

Boston University - Questrom School of Business

Scott D. Swain

Clemson University - Department of Marketing

Date Written: September 21, 2011

Abstract

This research examines how a firm’s relationship commitment influences its extra-role behavior after an intentional destructive act by a partner. The results of two studies – one a national survey of dealers for a consumer durable product and the other a set of three experiments involving business-to-business managers – show that the outcome of a destructive act depends on the type of commitment: whether the commitment is affective, calculative, or normative. Under relational distress caused by a supplier’s destructive act, high affective commitment induces more negative extra-role behaviors, high calculative commitment induces more positive extra-role behaviors, while high normative commitment induces little change in extra-role behavior. Process tests indicate that each of these effects on extra-role behavior is explained (mediated) by psychological responses that are distinct for the type of commitment involved.

Keywords: Dealer commitment, Supplier destructive acts, Extra-role behavior

JEL Classification: D21, D74, M31

Suggested Citation

Kim, Stephen K. and Hibbard, Jonathan and Swain, Scott D., Commitment in Marketing Channels: Mitigator or Aggravator of the Effects of Destructive Acts? (September 21, 2011). Journal of Retailing, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1979034

Stephen K. Kim (Contact Author)

Iowa State University ( email )

613 Wallace Road
Ames, IA 50011-2063
United States

Jonathan Hibbard

Boston University - Questrom School of Business ( email )

595 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA MA 02215
United States

Scott D. Swain

Clemson University - Department of Marketing ( email )

Clemson, SC 29631
United States

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