Elizabeth J. Wilson

Source effects in communication and persuasion research: A meta-analysis of effect size

The effect of a message source on the persuasion of a target audience has been a topic of interest to scholars in psychology, consumer behavior, and communications for many years. Narrative reviews of this literature are available; the contribution of this study is that we present a quantitative review of studies of source effects on persuasion. One of our research goals is to determine how strong and consistent source manipulations tend to be. We find that, on average, source manipulations account for nine percent of explained variance among studies reporting significant findings. In particular, expertise tends to have the greatest effect on persuasion with an average of 16 percent of the explained variance being due to the expert versus non-expert manipulation. As well as gaining insight into the pattern of results across a body of literature, our findings may be used as benchmarks by researchers, as advocated by Sawyer and Ball (1981), to evaluate results of future persuasion studies employing a source manipulation.

Partnering relationship activities: Building theory from case study research

Abstract 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).

Relational exchange: A review of selected models for a prediction matrix of relationship activities

Abstract Four models of relational exchange are reviewed because they provide the foundation for a prediction matrix of partnering activities. Works by Anderson and Narus (1990), Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh (1987); Mohr and Spekman (1994); and Morgan and Hunt (1994) are reviewed to introduce relevant theoretical constructs and to illustrate the ways in which relationships have been deductively studied in marketing. A series of research conjectures are proposed and summarized in a prediction matrix of activities for firms in partnering and typical distributor-manufacturer relationships.

Reference pricing studies in marketing: A synthesis of research results

Abstract Reference pricing, a phenomenon of interest to marketing scholars and practitioners alike, represents a growing body of literature in consumer behavior. In this study, we review the reference pricing studies in marketing both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results of the qualitative review provide general insight about the nature of reference pricing studies, constructs used, and measurement techniques employed. Inconsistencies and ways for improving this stream of research are offered based on this part of the review. The quantitative review provides insight about the average magnitude of statistical effects obtained in reference pricing studies. These average effect levels may be used in an actuarial sense as benchmarks by researchers to evaluate results of future research, as advocated by Sawyer and Ball (1981).

Cooperation and Continuity in Strategic Business Relationships

ABSTRACT Kay (1995) maintains that one of the most important objectives of a commercial relationship is cooperation. As long-term partnerships and strategic alliances between firms become increasingly important, more detailed knowledge regarding achieving interorganizational cooperation is needed. We ask two questions in this research; first, what are conceptual dimensions of cooperation and second, how does cooperation affect other behaviors in long-term business relationships? We suggest, based on extant literature, that global cooperation is comprised of four dimensions (information sharing, organizational flexibility, joint working, and harmony between firms). We propose that global cooperation affects relationship continuity indirectly through the accumulation of strategic benefits and trust. This model is field-tested with data from a national sample (n = 163) of industrial suppliers. The main results: (1) three of the four dimensions are predictive of global cooperation, and (2) global cooperation indirectly affects relationship continuity, particularly through trust.

Theory transitions in organizational buying behavior research

Organizational buying is an active research domain with hundreds of studies grounded in one or several of the complementary theoretical models in the literature. In recent years, however, many scholars have focussed on the importance of the buyer‐seller relationship. For many research studies, the theoretical framework has expanded from a buying‐side‐only perspective. Explores the reason for this transition in terms of changes in the business‐to‐business environment. Given the environmental changes, the next theory transition may be to view buying and selling relationships between firms from a systems perspective. Introduces basic systems thinking concepts as they may apply in the buyer‐seller context.

Constructing thick descriptions of marketers’ and buyers’ decision processes in business‐to‐business relationships

A central finding in the relationship marketing/buying literature is that the thought and decision processes by both marketers and buyers include a series of branching, if‐then, questions and answers. For example, will customer X accept a 7 percent price increase? The correct answer: acceptance depends on the changes in the other attributes on the table (i.e. in the bid proposal or product‐service design). Consequently, from designing and evaluating bid‐purchase proposals to evaluating the current state of the overall seller‐buyer relationship, the perceived value of the level of any given attribute depends in part of the value perceived in the levels of several other attributes. Possibly, business‐to‐business decisions and outcomes may be understood best by constructing thick descriptions of the multiple contingency paths that marketers and buyers think about and sometimes enact when deciding. We report the use of two “think aloud” methods to learn the contingency thoughts and decisions of marketers and buyers of industrial solvents. The main conclusions of the study: designing generalized “gatekeeping”, contingency, models of if‐then decision paths can be achieved; these models are useful for constructing accurate behavioral theories of marketer‐buyer relationships.

Partnering and traditional relationships in business marketing: An introduction to the special issue

Abstract Many theoretical and empirical articles about channel relationships have been published in the literature. However, Weitz and Jap (1995) highlight the lack of systematic research on the specific activities that comprise a partnering relationship in the business market. This Special Issue represents the programmatic work of many scholars who have addressed this question using a case study approach. In this introduction, background information about the project is provided along with specification of the research domain. The outcome of the issue is the development of a grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1994) of partnership structure as defined by the activities of successful partnering firms in contrast to traditional/typical interfirm relationships.

Using Single Informants to Study Group Choice: An Examination of Research Practice in Organizational Buying

Purchasing agents are often employed as individual informants in studies of organizational buying. This practice occurs in spite of the fact that several researchers have identified problems with using individual informants to study group buying behavior. The purpose of this study is to examine the appropriateness of using either single or multiple informants both in non-new task and new task group buying situations. We compare the predictive accuracy of a single-informant, autocracy model with that of a multiperson, majority rule model. The study includes 104 group decisions made by buying centers in organizations. Overall, we find that data from multiple informants significantly outperforms single informant data for both new task and non-new task situations, and that single/key informant data should be used in organizational buying research only with care and caution.

Executive and consumer decision processes: increasing useful sensemaking by identifying similarities and departures

Both marketing executives and consumers engage in a combination of automatic and strategic (i.e. controlled) thinking and doing processes when they become aware of problems/opportunities. Similarities and departures in these processes among executives and consumers occur through all stages of their decisions. This article includes a paradigm describing similarities (Si) and departures (Di) in the stream of thinking and behaviors of executives and consumers. For example, both executives and consumers apply simplifying categorizing rules for defining decision contexts; for repetitive decision‐making contexts, categorization rules are more often formalized in writing by executives but not by consumers. The extant literature on the quality of decision processes offers several easy‐to‐apply, but often unknown rules helpful for both executives and consumers for improving the quality of their decisions; these rules are examined briefly within the framework of similarities and departures. Formal study by all marketers of such similarities and departures of consumer/business buying decisions may be helpful for recognizing nuances critical in selling‐buying processes for achieving desired outcomes – such as getting a sale or building a marketing relationship. The article describes “direct research” studies of decision processes implemented by executives and consumers; direct research studies hold particular promise for uncovering similarities and departures when comparing the two areas of study.