Bert Rosenbloom

Communication in international business-to-business marketing channels: Does culture matter?

Abstract As business-to-business marketing channels become more international in scope, communication in channels occurs among a more diverse set of channel participants from different national cultures. Do such cultural variations influence channel communications and if so, how? This study examines these questions in international business-to-business marketing channels comprised of channel members representing different cultural contexts. The findings show that there is a relationship between culture and channel communication in international channels. This influence stemming from “cultural distance” may have significant implications as business moves into the E-commerce era of Internet-based B2B international channels of distribution.

The influence of leadership style on co‐operation in channels of distribution

The manufacturer depends on channel members for the performance of marketing functions. Therefore, the channel participants need to co‐operate with one another while simultaneously pursuing independent as well as systemic goals. Examines how co‐operation among distribution channel members can be fostered through the use of participative, supportive and directive leadership styles foster channel member co‐operation and assesses the relationship between co‐operation and channel member performance. Develops a conceptual model and empirically tests the linkages among the variables on data drawn from a survey of key informants in a sample of automobile dealerships. Shows that participative, supportive and directive leadership styles are directly related to channel member co‐operation, which, in turn, is positively associated with channel member performance.

Leadership and cooperation in marketing channels: A comparative empirical analysis of the USA, Finland and Poland

Marketing channels exist in an increasingly competitive international and global environment. Consequently, many firms have reengineered their marketing channels systems by placing greater emphasis on fostering higher levels of cooperation among international channel participants. However, there are relatively few studies that explore cross‐cultural issues in marketing channels. Thus, investigating whether cultural differences influence how channel participants react to a firm’s channel strategies is an important issue that needs to be addressed. This study comparatively examines channel leadership styles, cooperation, and channel member performance across three divergent national cultures. More specifically, the study seeks to assess whether employing uniform channel strategies produces similar responses from channel members in different countries. Using data drawn from a sample of automobile dealerships in the USA, Finland, and Poland, inconsistent results were found, which suggest that using leadership stylesto foster cooperation among channel members across different national cultures on a standardized basis is not an appropriate channel strategy. Based on the findings, international channel management implications, limitations, and directions for future research are proferred.

Standardization Versus Adaptation in Global Markets: Is Channel Strategy Different?

The argument over standardization versus adaptation of marketing strategy in international markets has raged for several decades. This argument has generally taken place at the aggregate level to include all four strategic areas of the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) taken together. This article disaggregates the standardization-versus-adaptation argument by focusing on just one strategic area of the marketing mix—channel strategy. We argue that three underlying phenomena or forces in global markets (culturally distant distribution behavior, distributive institution rigidity, and international functional fragmentation) inhibit a firms ability to standardize channel strategy in global markets to a greater degree than is the case for product, price, and promotional strategies.

Wholesalers as Global Marketers

ABSTRACT The notion of wholesalers as global marketers is almost an oxymoron in marketing thought. Yet, in fact, wholesalers as an institutional type have for thousands of years been involved in what today we refer to as global marketing. Wholesalers of many types have performed numerous activities or functions that have always been necessary for connecting distant buyers and sellers so that transactions can be consummated across international boundaries. In fact, by performing many distribution tasks or functions, wholesaling intermediaries of all types create the channel flows that link buyers and sellers together on a global scale. These flows, of which there are eight (product, ownership, promotion, negotiation, financing, risking, ordering, and payment), do not automatically appear out of thin air. Rather, the eight flows are created and sustained by many types of organizations that perform all of the myriad distribution tasks needed to connect sellers and buyers. Wholesale distributive institutions of all kinds, from the traditional so-called full-function merchant wholesaler to the more narrowly focused wholesaling intermediaries such as freight forwarders and export desk jobbers, all make a contribution by creating and sustaining channel flows. In recent years, as these flows increasingly extend to an international or global level, wholesaling intermediaries will likely play an even larger role in global marketing.

Barriers to Online Shopping in Switzerland

Abstract Despite the collapse of the so-called digital economy, the Internet has developed into an established channel of distribution. Although Internet usage continues to grow at a significant pace, online retail sales of products and services lag behind considerably. This paper focuses on the underlying motivational factors that inhibit consumers from online purchasing, based on a review of current literature and the empirical findings of a survey among Internet users in Switzerland. Four distinct barriers to online shopping that exist between buying and non-buying Internet users were identified. Implications for the marketing management of online shopping channels are derived.

The wholesaler's role in the marketing channel: Disintermediation vs. reintermediation

Abstract The demise of wholesalers as a major distributive institution in marketing channels has been predicted for many decades. The advent of internet-based electronic commerce has been predicted to accelerate the demise of wholesalers through a process of disintermediation. But reality has not conformed to these prognostications. What appears to be occurring is a reconfiguring or realignment of wholesalers in distribution channels, sometimes referred to as reintermediation. This article examines several underlying paradigms that may explain why wholesalers as a major distributive institution (will) continue to play an important role in marketing channels.

Perceptions of Wholesaler Functional Role Prescriptions in Marketing Channels

The role concept has been largely ignored in recent marketing channels literature. The authors address this issue from the wholesaling perspective, conceptualising the wholesaler′s role in terms of six marketing functions that they perform for manufacturers. Findings from a large sample mail survey of wholesaler and manufacturer members of the National Association of Wholesaler‐Distributors empirically support the authors′ expectations that wholesalers are perceived as important performers of each function by both wholesalers and manufacturers; that both wholesalers and manufacturers think the reliance on wholesalers to perform these functions has been increasing and will increase even further in the future; and that wholesalers perceive themselves to be more important performers of each marketing function than do manufacturers. The implications of these findings for channel roles, power, and conflict issues are then discussed.

Low Price, Low Cost, High Service: A New Paradigm for Global Retailing?

A major new phenomenon may be emerging in retailing in the US, Western Eurpore and to a lesser extent the Far East. This phenomenon consists of retailers emphasizing low price and low cost while still offering high levels of service. This seemingly incongruent strategy which deviates dramatically from the conventional retailing wisdom concerning the relationship among price, cost and service may constitute an emerging paradigm for successful retailing in this decade and well into the next. The paradigm is described in the article using examples of well-known global retailers. Directions for future research on teh topic are also provided.

Functions and Institutions: The Roots and the Future of Marketing Channels

From its very beginnings as an academic discipline over a century ago, marketing functions and institutions have been core concepts of marketing. Except for the case of direct marketing channels linking producers directly with final users, all marketing channel structures contain intermediaries involving independent businesses or organizations working together to bring products and services to market. Considering if the functions now being performed by marketing channels may become obsolete in the 21st century, while acknowledging new and changing technologies used to perform these functions, the author concludes that these paradigms of functions and institutions are as relevant now, and for the future, as they ever were.