Effects of Supplier Market Orientation on Distributor Market Orientation and the Channel Relationship: The Distributor Perspective

A strategy for easing the tensions facing suppliers and distributors in their channel relationships may be the adoption of market-oriented behaviors. The authors develop a model of likely effects and empirically examine the consequences of a supplier's market orientation on the distributor's market orientation and other channel relationship factors. Results indicate that a supplier's market-oriented behaviors directly or indirectly affect all the channel relationship factors examined from the distributor's perspective, specifically the distributor's market orientation, trust, cooperative norms, commitment, and satisfaction with financial performance.