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Loyalty or lethargy? Keeping sellers committed, not entrenched

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  • Jelinek, Ronald

Abstract

While business sellers frequently enjoy long-term relationships with their buyers, not every extended association is based on a genuine sense of customer loyalty. Many organizations remain in relationships with providers for too long; while the seller has stopped providing value, the buyer sticks to the routine. Building from empirical research and theory on buyer-seller relationships, this research extends our understanding of customer complacency and seller entrenchment and introduces the concept of customer lethargy. Synthesizing theory from multiple domains with exploratory interviews conducted with business customers, this article offers insight into the functioning of organizational buying centers, the evolution of business exchanges over time, and how some exchanges can be undermined by various forms of relational dysfunction. I define customer lethargy, explore its root causes and offer business buyers a strategy which aims to help them self-audit their loyalty, avoid complacency and lethargy, and keep sellers committed, not entrenched.

Suggested Citation

  • Jelinek, Ronald, 2021. "Loyalty or lethargy? Keeping sellers committed, not entrenched," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 61-71.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:64:y:2021:i:1:p:61-71
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2020.10.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jelinek, Ronald & Jelinek, Kate, 2010. "From clear to complicated: Buying and selling accounting services post Sarbanes-Oxley," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 511-522, September.
    2. Laura Poppo & Kevin Zheng Zhou & Julie J. Li, 2016. "When can you trust “trust”? Calculative trust, relational trust, and supplier performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 724-741, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Faridzah Jamaluddin & Nizaroyani Saibani, 2021. "Systematic Literature Review of Supply Chain Relationship Approaches amongst Business-to-Business Partners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, October.

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