Distribution in China: A guide through the maze

Relationship stability, trust and relational risk in marketing channels: Evidence from China

“…In view of the fact that trust usually comes with risk (Das & Teng, 2001a) and is associated with future uncertainty, it is meaningful to explore the effects of trust on risk in marketing channels. Third, guanxi is an important factor in Chinese business practice, and it influences all forms of social and commercial life in China (Tseng, Kwan, & Cheung, 1995;Yeung & Tung, 1996;Ambramson & Ai, 1999;Ambler, Styles, & Xiucun, 1999;Standifird, & Marshall, 2000). Some previous researchers have shown that guanxi plays a greater role in explaining performance than do variables such as trust and risk (Ambler et al, 1999), and others have pointed out that relationships built inside the guanxi network do not have a high component of risk (Davies, Leung, Luk, & Wong, 1995;Lee & Ellis, 2000;Standifird & Marshall, 2000).…”

The coexistence of transaction and relational marketing: Insights from the Chinese business context

“…Specifically, we draw on Chinese business practices and the underlying values that drive them. China is often portrayed as a ''relational society,'' where concepts such as ''guanxi'' (relationships or connections) are the major influence on both social and business behaviour (de Keijzer, 1992;Tseng, Kwan, & Cheung, 1995). Consistent with definitions of Western relationship marketing (Morgan & Hunt, 1994), guanxi involves mutual obligations, assurance and understanding, a long-term perspective, and cooperative behavior (Arias, 1998;Luo, 1997).…”

Understanding distributor opportunism in a horizontal network

“…Second, China is an ideal context for studying the cooperative and meanwhile competitive relationships among peer distributors. Cooperative relationships with competitors are common in China due to the prevalence of Guanxi in Chinese business practice (Ambler, Styles, & Xiucun, 1999;Ambramson & Ai, 1999;Standifird & Marshall, 2000;Tseng, Kwan, & Cheung, 1995;Yeung & Tung, 1996).…”