Relational behaviors in marketing channel relationships: Transaction cost implications

Despite recent progress in research on marketing channel relationships, one important question remains unaddressed: Do distributor relational behaviors lower transaction cost for distributors? If so, how do relational behaviors affect transaction cost? This study examines the process through which relational behaviors affect transaction cost. Combining the relational perspective with the transaction cost analysis of exchange, the author develops hypotheses on the links between relational behaviors and transaction cost from a distributor's point of view: a distributor's relational behaviors have different direct and indirect effects on its transaction cost. The proposed hypotheses are tested on distributor–supplier relationships with data collected through a national survey of industrial distributors. The hypotheses on the dual, differential effects of relational behaviors on distributor transaction cost received partial empirical support.