Internationalization of Product-Related Services: The Role of Relationship Marketing

Author(s)
Christina Sichtmann, Maren von Selasinsky
Abstract

Practitioners in B2B markets often view relationships as the decisive variable when asking them about drivers of the international performance of product-related services. However, evidence regarding the positive impact of relationships and relationship marketing remains mainly anecdotal. Most studies analyzing drivers of international performance focus on manufacturing firms. Studies that explicitly account for services only address services in general, rather than providing any detailed insights into product-related industrial services.

This article aims to close this research gap. Based on an empirical study using the PLS approach, the authors analyze the impact of relationship marketing activities and trust on the international performance of product-associated services. The results show that relationship management is a critical driver of the international performance of productrelated services, though its importance in an international context may be overrated. Instead, the most important driver of international performance proved to be a firm’s commitment to an export venture.

Organisation(s)
Department of Accounting, Innovation and Strategy
External organisation(s)
Freie Universität Berlin (FU)
Pages
355-368
No. of pages
14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-07448-7_20
Publication date
2015
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
502052 Business administration
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/internationalization-of-productrelated-services-the-role-of-relationship-marketing(04233fd6-c5ac-4d8d-b9f3-0779b7ac31dd).html