Opportunism in buyer-seller relationships: Some unexplored antecedents

Bohyeon Kang, Rupinder P. Jindal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

88 Scopus citations

Abstract

Opportunism is recognized as a key factor that can affect the quality of relationship between buyers and sellers. However, there is a relative lack of research in the antecedents of opportunism. This paper draws upon transaction cost economics and relationship marketing paradigms to propose a conceptual framework involving six potential antecedents. Data from 270 franchisees in a Korea based franchise system is used to test the hypotheses. Results from a structural equation model show that the conflict in a relationship significantly increases franchisee opportunism. Furthermore, conflict mediates the effects of other antecedents in the framework which include alternative attractiveness, goal incongruity, unfairness, transaction-specific investments, and termination cost. The study provides theoretical and managerial insights into understanding and controlling opportunism.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)735-742
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Business Research
Volume68
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2015

Keywords

  • Business-to-business marketing
  • Buyer-seller relationships
  • Opportunism
  • Relationship marketing
  • Structural equation modeling (SEM)
  • Transaction-cost economics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Opportunism in buyer-seller relationships: Some unexplored antecedents'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this