A Proposed Framework for Exploring Comparison Standards at Various Stages of the Business-to-Business Relationship Evolution

Abstract

Satisfaction research, specifically comparison standards work, has focused predominantly on consumers and ignored the business-to-business contexts. And within the standards literature, little effort has been given to differentiating between sources of information used to form standards and the standards themselves. The authors present a framework that conceptually addresses these issues. Standards are gleaned from the literature (expectations, ideal, minimum tolerable, equity, and needs, wants and desires) and are hypothesized to play a predominant role in some stages more so than others of a business-to-business relationship evolutionary process (awareness, expansion/ exploration, commitment, dissolution). The sources of information for standards formation (word of mouth, explicit/implicit communication, perceived alternatives, industry norms, and past experiences), again from the literature, are also linked to each of these relationship stages. By understanding what standards and sources are most strongly related to certain stages of a buying relationship, practitioners can best allocate time and other resources to influence the process.