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Toward understanding passive opportunism in dedicated channel relationships

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Abstract

The investments made in an interfirm relationship have implications for the effectiveness of an agreement. In this study, we investigate whether these investments influence the level of passive opportunism observed in a relationship. Whereas transaction cost theory suggests that firms that make idiosyncratic investments are reluctant to engage in opportunism, reactance theory offers logic suggesting that such investments may increase the likelihood of opportunism. In addition, we investigate whether perceived justice influences the effect of investments on levels of passive opportunism. Data from 120 retail managers in the Norwegian consumer electronics industry support reactance theory predictions and indicate that interactional justice moderates the relationship between specific assets and passive opportunism. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for theory and research.

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Notes

  1. Deleted items are available upon request.

  2. Although active opportunism is not the focus of this study, we found that retailer transaction specific investments are not significantly related to active opportunism in this sample (t = 1.118, p > 0.10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, P.O. Box 6025, WV, USA

    Jody L. Crosno

  2. Department of Marketing, Williams College of Business, Xavier University, 1002 Francis Xavier Way, Smith Hall No. 306, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Chris Manolis

  3. Farmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 3057, USA

    Robert Dahlstrom

  4. Department of Marketing, Center for Advanced Research in Retailing, BI Norwegian School of Management, Nydalsveien 37, Oslo, 0442, Norway

    Robert Dahlstrom

Authors
  1. Jody L. Crosno
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  2. Chris Manolis
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  3. Robert Dahlstrom
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Correspondence to Jody L. Crosno.

Appendix

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Table 3 The scale items
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Crosno, J.L., Manolis, C. & Dahlstrom, R. Toward understanding passive opportunism in dedicated channel relationships. Mark Lett 24, 353–368 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-012-9220-3

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