A contingency perspective of communication, conflict resolution and buyer search effort in buyer-supplier relationships

This study investigates the moderating effects of buying context on the relationship between communication elements and the effort buyers exert while searching for new suppliers throughout a buyer-supplier relationship development process. A mail survey of members of the Institute for Supply Management™ was conducted and the data were analyzed using moderated regression. The results suggest that company size, buyer experience, relationship duration and relationship importance affect the association between a buyer's search effort and the communication elements. Interestingly, the buying context affects the relationship between search effort and the communication elements in different ways and to a different extent in each stage of the relationship development process.
INTRODUCTION Success in business-to-business markets depends, in part, on understanding relationship development between buyers and suppliers. Understanding industrial buyer behavior is instrumental to an appreciation of the relationship development process. [...]