Guanxi vs. relationship marketing: Exploring underlying differences [An article from: Industrial Marketing Management]

This digital document is a journal article from Industrial Marketing Management, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The present paper attempts to explore the underlying mechanism between Western relationship marketing and Chinese guanxi by examining the construct equivalence of the two concepts. First, it distinguishes guanxi from relationship marketing in terms of the personal and particularistic nature of the relation. Second, it differentiates trust from xinyong, its counterpart in Chinese, based on a comparison of their roles in relationship building and maintenance. Third, it discusses the unique meaning of renqing, which is proposed as an underlying mechanism that guides behavior norms in guanxi and a mediator between trust or xinyong and long-term orientation. Finally, it concludes by discussing the managerial implications for international marketers who wish to succeed in the Chinese business market and the importance of adapting Western relationship marketing principles to guanxi marketing.