A Contingency Perspective of Communication, Conflict Resolution and Buyer Search Effort in Buyer‐Supplier Relationships
研究采购情境如何调节沟通要素与买方在供应商关系发展各阶段搜索新供应商努力之间的关系，发现公司规模、买方经验、关系时长和重要性等因素有不同影响。
SUMMARY This study investigates the moderating effects of buying context on the relationship between communication elements and the effort buyers exert while searching for new suppliers throughout a buyer‐supplier relationship development process. A mail survey of members of the Institute for Supply Management™ was conducted and the data were analyzed using moderated regression. The results suggest that company size, buyer experience, relationship duration and relationship importance affect the association between a buyer's search effort and the communication elements. Interestingly, the buying context affects the relationship between search effort and the communication elements in different ways and to a different extent in each stage of the relationship development process.