Antecedents to Relationship-Specific Investments in Cross-Border Marketing Channel Relationships

This study investigates antecedents to relationship-specific investments in marketing channel relationships. Product differentiation, competitive intensity, export market ethnocentricity, and export market knowledge are identified as possible antecedents to relationship-specific investments. The model and hypotheses are empirically tested on a sample of 160 international B2B relationships. The results show that all the suggested antecedents have significant impact on the level of specific investments. Furthermore, none of these variables have any direct effect on relationship governance, indicating that supplier-specific and buyer-specific investments transmit the effects of these variables to relationship governance. The results indicate important linkages between complementary theoretical perspectives and have useful managerial implications for exporters, especially in regard to the treatment of institutional factors in export markets and strategic positioning considerations for developing and maintaining international customer relationships.