The relationship between power and dependence in marketing channels

Abstract

This paper studies the causal relationship between dependence and power in the context of marketing channels in China in the setting of department stores and their suppliers. The hypothesized relationship that a channel member's power is derived from the other's dependence in the channel dyad, which is based on existing Western literature on channel behavior, did not fit well with our data. Some dimensions of dependence did not have a significant influence on channel members’ perception of power. The empirical data fits better with a reversed relationship inferred from the Chinese psychoculture.