ENHANCING KNOWLEDGE ON DEALER-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS: AN ANALYSIS OF DEALER’S ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION

Year 2012, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 163 - 173, 01.12.2012

Nor Azila Mohd Noor Selvan Perumal Zolkafli Hussin

Abstract

In today’s environment, businesses have become more complex and uncertain where sustainable
competitive advantages rely on the development and maintenance of relationships between buyers and supplier.
Understanding the relationship in depth contributes to organizational knowledge as it facilitates the delivery of
the products to the intended customers. Thus, researchers’ and marketers’ interests have become more focused
on relationship building and development, and many marketing scholars have recognized the need for
examination of the relationship aspects of buyer-supplier exchange and the components that influence
relationship development and satisfaction. Despite the assumption that relationship satisfaction contributes to
buyer-supplier relationship, previous researches have concentrated more on overall satisfaction of relationship
and less research focus has been given to investigating the multi dimensionality of relationship satisfaction. The
aim of this study is to examine the level of relationship satisfaction in supplier-dealer relationships as well as the
relationships between dimensions of relationship satisfaction. Using a survey method, this study explores the
level of relationship satisfaction among 126 car dealers in Malaysia as well as the influence of economic
satisfaction on social satisfaction. Results show that the dealers are highly satisfied with the suppliers and both
dimensions of relationship satisfaction are correlated to each other. The results provide support for the
relationship between economic and social satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are extracted
from these findings with a view towards knowledge sharing.

Keywords

Relationship satisfaction, automobile industry, Malaysia, buyer-seller relationship

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