Marketing channel research has relied on a variety of theoretical perspectives to understand interfirm relationship management and governance processes between a buyer and a seller, such as a supplier and a distributor. However, conclusions arising from different theoretical perspectives sometimes can be controversial. For example, both the economic approach and the sociological approach that conventionally dominate extant marketing channel research encourage firms to commit to existing relationships. Seeking new partners increases transaction costs, and therefore can harm incumbent relationship loyalty, leading to potential exchange hazards. On the other hand, however, network theory and the resource-based view suggest that exploring new relationships can help firms gain new knowledge and capabilities that contribute to superior firm performance and competitiveness. Therefore, how marketing channel firms balance the seemingly contradictory strategies - committing to the incumbent relationship (i.e. relationship exploitation strategy) while also exploring new relationships (i.e. relationship exploration strategy) is the central theme of the thesis. By focusing on the distributor firms, the thesis investigates the issue by two essays. The first essay examines how a distributor's relationship exploration strategy and relationship exploitation strategy influence its opportunism. The research provides different boundary conditions for how to manage relationship exploration strategy and relationship exploitation strategy, including two types of uncertainties (environment uncertainty and performance ambiguity), and two types of network factors (network density and network centrality). One of the interesting findings in the first essay is that while relationship exploitation reduces opportunism as predicted, relationship exploration exerts no significant main effect. This finding demonstrates that relationship exploration strategy is not the opposite of relationship exploitation strategy; rather, it is a conceptually independent construct. The nature of relationship exploration and its effect on incumbent relationship is the subject of the second essay. A theoretical framework was thereby developed to examine how a distributor's relationship exploration strategy can enhance its own dynamic capabilities, which in turn can promote the dyadic relationship quality between the distributor and its incumbent supplier. In sum, relationship exploration is not necessarily destructive. If firms are able to develop their own dynamic capabilities in forms of absorptive capacity and innovative capability, exploring new relationships can be a constructive co-development strategy beneficial for sustaining long-term continuity in the channel dyads.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Management)--Vanderbilt University, May 2010. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Naveen Donthu, committee chair; Detmar Straub, Dan Bello, James Boles, committee members. Electronic text (152 p. : ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 14, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 142-151).

Thesis (M. Com.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-219). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. James Boles, committee chair; Wesley Johnston, Greg W. Marshall, Edward Rigdon, Danny Bellenger, committee members. Electronic text (222 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Oct. 29, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-221).

Este estudo aborda a utilização das mídias sociais como ferramenta para gestão de marcas. O tema se demonstra relevante por tratar de três assuntos considerados importantes na atualidade: gestão de marcas, marketing de relacionamento e redes sociais no ambiente virtual. A proposta do estudo é explorar se as organizações estão estabelecendo um relacionamento com seus clientes de forma que este promova o brand equity por meio do uso das redes sociais. Para se atingir os objetivos do estudo, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória de cunho qualitativo em que os dados foram coletados a partir do método netnográfico, ou seja, a partir da observação das informações que foram disponibilizadas publicamente nas páginas das marcas Coca-Cola, Microsoft e Google no site Facebook. A análise da pesquisa permitiu concluir que as três marcas observadas estão atuando no Facebook com o objetivo de se relacionar com seus consumidores, sendo que seu uso permite o engajamento natural das pessoas - seja por meio das mensagens postadas, que devem ser simples e conter em sua essência um conteúdo que promova o diálogo, a interação e confiança entre os participantes, evitando um teor que fale de si mesmo, ou seja por meio das ferramentas disponibilizadas. / This study addresses the use of social media as a tool for brand management. This is a (highly) relevant theme because it deals with three matters of current importance: brand management, relationship marketing and social networking in the virtual environment. The purpose of this study is to explore whether organizations are establishing a relationship with their customers so as to promote brand equity through the use of social networks. To achieve the objectives of the study, an exploratory qualitative character survey was conducted where data was collected from netnographic method, in other words, from the observation of the information that was publicly available on Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Google\'s pages on Facebook. The research analysis concluded that the three brands are seen using Facebook in order to relate to their customers, and its use promotes the natural engagement of persons - whether through postings, which should be simple and contain in its core a content that promotes dialogue, interaction and trust among participants, thus avoiding the company to speak of itself, or through the tools available.

Relationship marketing provides a new foundation for thinking, genuine change in values and ethics and a new logic that sees consumers as the prime drivers of the value creation process. It seems to have a lot to offer to social marketing, however, despite its potential, the social marketing field is responding slowly to relational thinking. This research demonstrates that relationship marketing helps social marketing and that its absence seriously undermines the field. Our examination is critical because it de-constructs the transactional paradigm and shows how its logic is incapable of responding to the complexities of contemporary pluralist societies. From the literature, we have identified the principles, processes and constructs of relationship marketing that are transferable to social marketing. Further, we have identified the challenges and implications of that transference, given the particular characteristics of social marketing. To empirically examine the potential of relationship marketing in social marketing, we have conducted a process evaluation and developed a specific framework that incorporates and reflects relationship marketing principles, processes and constructs. This research makes an important methodological contribution because it goes beyond current frameworks and suggests alternative evaluation components. The process evaluation was applied through an explanatory, holistic and single case-study design. The case was a parent drugs prevention programme and to examine it we have predominantly used a mix of qualitative methods and a research design which enabled triangulation. Through the application of process evaluation to the case we have de-constructed the dominant paradigm of the programme and examined its consequences. The findings indicate that the programme did not widely applied the principles, processes and constructs of relationship marketing. Despite having successfully applied relationship marketing in specific parts of the programme, these correspond to technical rather than strategic aspects of relationship marketing and worked as isolated parts rather than as a whole. More fundamentally, rather than seeing consumers as partners, the programme saw consumers as targets, not recognizing them as the main drivers of the value creation process. The programme was therefore shaped by a transactional perspective which affected its assumptions and undermined its design and implementation. The main conclusion is that, despite its theoretical potential, it is challenging and difficult to transfer relationship marketing to real live social marketing programmes. In particular, social marketing needs to be more reflexive and self-critical in order to de-construct its prevailing paradigm and start re-constructing an alternative. This demands not only a new attitude, new values and new assumptions but also a focus on resources, competences and new and more flexible organizational structures.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Advisor: Norman P. Archer. Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-197). Also available via World Wide Web.

Este estudo aborda a utilização das mídias sociais como ferramenta para gestão de marcas. O tema se demonstra relevante por tratar de três assuntos considerados importantes na atualidade: gestão de marcas, marketing de relacionamento e redes sociais no ambiente virtual. A proposta do estudo é explorar se as organizações estão estabelecendo um relacionamento com seus clientes de forma que este promova o brand equity por meio do uso das redes sociais. Para se atingir os objetivos do estudo, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória de cunho qualitativo em que os dados foram coletados a partir do método netnográfico, ou seja, a partir da observação das informações que foram disponibilizadas publicamente nas páginas das marcas Coca-Cola, Microsoft e Google no site Facebook. A análise da pesquisa permitiu concluir que as três marcas observadas estão atuando no Facebook com o objetivo de se relacionar com seus consumidores, sendo que seu uso permite o engajamento natural das pessoas - seja por meio das mensagens postadas, que devem ser simples e conter em sua essência um conteúdo que promova o diálogo, a interação e confiança entre os participantes, evitando um teor que fale de si mesmo, ou seja por meio das ferramentas disponibilizadas. / This study addresses the use of social media as a tool for brand management. This is a (highly) relevant theme because it deals with three matters of current importance: brand management, relationship marketing and social networking in the virtual environment. The purpose of this study is to explore whether organizations are establishing a relationship with their customers so as to promote brand equity through the use of social networks. To achieve the objectives of the study, an exploratory qualitative character survey was conducted where data was collected from netnographic method, in other words, from the observation of the information that was publicly available on Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Google\'s pages on Facebook. The research analysis concluded that the three brands are seen using Facebook in order to relate to their customers, and its use promotes the natural engagement of persons - whether through postings, which should be simple and contain in its core a content that promotes dialogue, interaction and trust among participants, thus avoiding the company to speak of itself, or through the tools available.

This thesis describes how Innovation Management Consultants (IMCs) can promote changes in R&D/marketing relationships. The research was motivated by the scarce number of studies about the impact of IMCs on organisational relationships in general, and particularly on R&D and marketing relationships. This thesis contributes to knowledge in four strands of literature: technology management, organisational change, management consulting and conflict studies. Firstly, its main contribution is to technology management literature. Empirical evidence indicates that IMCs can modify the relationship between R&D and marketing functions, even though they are not hired explicitly for that purpose. Nonetheless, the main impact on the relationship is perceived at the personal level and it is dependent on the format of the intervention process. Additionally, the changes in the R&D/marketing relationship and its continuity seem to be conditional upon contextual factors such as specific company and consultant characteristics, as well as the nature of the consultant-client relationship. Secondly, this study has added to scholarly knowledge in organisational change by providing empirical evidence that IMCs advocate for the same dynamics used by Organisational Development (OD) consultants. The results highlight the importance of a facilitative-participative approach and organisational learning to generate change. The results suggest that certain OD theories such as sociotechnical systems theories and Lewin’s model can be used to explain the effect of IMCs on intra-organisational relationships. Thirdly, this research also augments knowledge about IMCs in management consulting literature because it provides evidence about the activities conducted by IMCs and their unexpected effects within client organisations. This addresses a gap identified in the literature, since the contributions of this type of Management Consultant (MC) have not been significantly investigated and the focus of previous studies has been on expected results. Finally, this research contributes to the area of conflict studies, particularly to the intersection between R&D/marketing integration and conflict, since it provides certain evidence about some IMCs’ mediation techniques that can be used to diminish conflict between different areas within an organisation. The research followed an inductive approach to understanding the changes that IMCs can promote in R&D/marketing relationships in large firms. The research is based on empirical evidence gathered through twelve case studies, feedback interviews and a small-scale survey. A framework describing the possible changes that IMCs can promote in the R&D/Marketing relationship was then built from grounded, within-case, and cross-case analysis. Lastly, in order to verify the observations obtained during the case studies, as well as the pertinence of the proposed framework, a set of eight feedback interviews with company participants and IMCs were carried out, as well as a small-scale survey. The results of these verification activities indicate that the proposed framework is reasonably complete and its elements are coherent.