The Role of Perceived Relational Support in Entrepreneur–Customer Dyads
基于社会交换理论，研究企业家感知到的顾客支持如何影响其对顾客的承诺和满意度，并发现交换的可靠性和质量通过感知关系支持间接影响企业家态度。
Drawing from social exchange theory and the marketing literature, we posit that entrepreneurs’ commitment to and satisfaction with a customer depends on the extent to which they believe the customer is willing to provide strong support to entrepreneurs in their role as suppliers. We tested the hypotheses among 217 entrepreneurs in a Western European country and found that entrepreneurs’ perceptions of relational support relate positively to their commitment to and satisfaction with the customer. In turn, the reliability and quality of the exchanges that took place between entrepreneurs and the customer affected their perceptions of relational support, as well as their attitudes through perceived relational support. We thus identify a key mechanism that explains relationship outcomes in entrepreneur–customer dyads. We discuss the implications and limitations of our findings and provide directions for further research.