Gratitude is increasingly included in the battery of precepts that explain relational exchanges. However, the literature on commercial exchanges has failed to differentiate between the similar, but distinct, measures of gratitude and indebtedness or recognize their potential for differential...

Inspired by open systems theories like the structural contingency theory (Lawrence and Lorsch 1967), population ecology theory (Hannan and Freeman 1977), and resource dependence theory (Pfeffer and Salancik 1978), several marketing scholars have investigated how channels adapt and organize...

Existing research on drivers of customer loyalty such as satisfaction and switching barriers often does not account for possible nonlinear interaction effects (e.g., Jones et al. 2000). General and generalized linear models (e.g., linear regression, logistic regression, or structural equation...

How do firms' partnering strategies impact the size of their partner-based retail networks? We draw on agency theory to address this question in the context of franchising. Our econometric analyses, (based on nine years of longitudinal balanced panel data), include assessment of data...

This paper offers a property rights theoretical interpretation of the ownership redirection hypothesis advanced by Oxenfeldt and Kelly (Oxenfeldt and Kelly 1968). In a nutshell, couched in resource dependence theory, the ownership redirection hypothesis argues that successful franchise systems...

Relationship marketing (RM) has emerged as one of the dominant mantras in business strategy circles, though RM investigations often yield mixed results. To help managers and researchers improve the effectiveness of their efforts, the authors synthesize RM empirical research in a meta-analytic...

Not much is known about the primary drivers of performance in franchising systems. With some notable exceptions, much of the franchising literature on performance related issues has focused on either contrasting failure rates of independent small businesses and entrepreneurs with those of...