Modeling Dyadic Interactions and Networks in Marketing

Many substantive areas in marketing share a basic concern with relationships. Social network and dyadic interaction methods are techniques that can enrich a researcher's understanding of the structure of relationships, whether a few actors or many are involved and whether the relationships are at the consumer or business level. Network models are discussed in a variety of substantive areas, including coalition formation in buying centers, identification of opinion leaders in word-of-mouth networks, power and cooperation in channel dyads, conflict resolution in family purchasing, and the management of expectations in service encounters. In addition, important modeling advances are described, including techniques that enable researchers to make comparisons between networks and adaptations of reciprocity parameters to allow for identification of stochastic cliques.