Determinants of Vendor Patronage in Business Service Markets: An Integrative Model

This paper advances a conceptual model of vendor selection and patronage by customers of industrial and business services. The model draws on three literatures: industrial buyer behavior, service quality, and relationship marketing. The model distinguishes between pre-purchase and post-use assessments, and considers the determinants for each stage separately. At each stage, patronage is posited to be driven by: perceived service quality, trust, and perceived value. In addition to the technical and functional quality discussed in the current services literature, business service customers assess vendors for their long-term business commitments for initial patronage decision, and for evidence of trust building behaviors in the ongoing relationship for re-patronage decisions. Propositions based on the model are advanced, and important future research directions and managerial implications of the model are suggested.