A study on marketing channel satisfaction in international markets

Yongkyu Kim

The author Yongkyu Kim is Assistant Professor at the Department of International Trade and Distribution, Anyang University, Korea. Abstract When an international rm enters an overseas market, international distribution channel structure is very important. Distribution channel structures decisions are made by examining the companys degree of commitment and risk, and are not only difcult to change but initial wrong decisions may lead to poor results. Therefore, channel satisfaction is higher when channel structure is appropriate for the foreign market. Examines factors leading to a rms satisfaction with international marketing channels. Builds on existing studies about consumer satisfaction and distribution channel structures. As theoretical background, a transaction cost factor and the discrepancy model is used to examine the determinants of satisfaction. Findings from a survey of Korean electronic export corporations show that a rms relative performance and control variables provide signicant explanations for channel satisfaction, and the channel structure variable is supported by null hypothesis.

In the case of a company that enters international markets through exports, generally they must always make two important decisions. First, will the new market for the product provide greater returns than would other options? Second, what are the most suitable market entry modes or distribution channel structures to use? As distribution channel structures are different in their institutional arrangements, the degree of commitment and risk is also different. Current overseas market distribution channel structures can be extremely difcult to change to other structures. Wrong decisions may lead to poor results and low satisfaction because of low operation performance in the initial entry market. If the original choice of distribution channel structures was inappropriate, or conditions have changed, the existing channel structures may be incompatible. Most international rms have difculty in changing to channels of other types. Therefore, they are forced to use the present channels. In particular, international distribution channel structures are very difcult to change because of foreign government restrictions, domestic parent company control, human and physical resource scarcity, channel transfer expense excess, etc. So far, existing studies on the satisfaction of international marketing channels show that managers satisfaction is directly related to the operation performance (Robicheaux and El-Ansary, 1975). Preceding studies on the satisfaction with international distribution channels which are different from domestic channels have been very rare. The purpose of this research is to examine factors leading to a rms satisfaction with an international marketing channel. For searching determinants of channel satisfaction, the preceding literature is studied. As theoretical background, a transaction cost analysis model and the expectancy-performance discrepancy model are also used.

Theoretical background
Much of the marketing channels research has been done from a behavioral perspective. The part that major research concerns have been focused on is satisfaction as it relates to performance and issues of power and control (Stern and Reve, 1980). Channel satisfaction is thought to facilitate improved morale and cooperation among channel members (Hunt 224

Logistics Information Management Volume 11 Number 4 1998 pp. 224231 MCB University Press ISSN 0957-6053

A study on marketing channel satisfaction in international markets

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Yongkyu Kim

and Nevin, 1974) and lower dysfunctional conict (Lusch, 1976). Especially in international markets, the control of behavioral problems between channel members is very difcult, but is thought to be very important (Ahmed, 1977). Most international rms would prefer to run a direct channel when using the rms own sales force, but instead they are forced to use middle merchants due to low sales volume and high start-up costs (Rosson and Ford, 1980). Expectancy-performance discrepancy model Generally, in the case of products purchase, if consumers are satised with the products, they will buy the same products continuously. But if they are not satised, they will purchase a different brand or complain to a manufacturer, retailer, or another consumer about the quality of the products. Satisfaction is seen by marketers as a general psychological phenomenon describing the emotional state resulting from an evaluation of ones experiences in connection with an object, action, or condition (Westbrook and Reilly, 1983). Satisfaction has been regarded as a kind of stepping away from an experience and evaluating it. Satisfaction is not simply the pleasurableness of an experience, it is the evaluation rendered that the experience was at least as good as it was supposed to be. Satisfaction is generally thought to depend on the degree of difference between pursued and perceived outcomes (Thierry and Koopman-Iwema, 1984). The major theories of satisfaction and dissatisfaction paradigm in marketing depend on the expectancy-performance discrepancy model. It measures the difference between the pursued degree of product performance or service quality and the perceived actual outcomes. The subjective evaluation of the size of the discrepancy determines the extent of satisfaction (Oliver and Swan, 1989). As mentioned above, when the expectancy-performance discrepancy model is applied to nd the determinant of satisfaction with international distribution channels, the degree of discrepancy of the prior expectations of intended specied channel structure and marketing operation performance when using the actual channel structures can be presented as a framework for making the degree of satisfaction with the channel decision. The larger the degree of such a

discrepancy gap, the lower its channel satisfaction will be. Transaction cost analysis model Over the past decade, one of the theoretical approach methods on distribution channel decisions has been done from a behavioral perspective. Emerging as the dominant paradigm of such research is the transaction cost analysis model(Klein et al., 1990). Insights into channel satisfaction may be learned from this body of literature. The transaction cost analysis (TCA) framework argues that cost minimization explains structural decisions. Firms internalize transactions, that is, intergrate vertically, to reduce cost. One type of cost reects the rms ability to perform necessary distribution functions efciently. Such a cost is determined mainly by the rms ability to specialize and so reap the benets arising from economies of scale. Transaction costs emerge when markets fail to operate under the requirements of perfect competition. Transaction costs are a reection of the markets limited ability to enforce contractual compliance and include the costs of monitoring and enforcing performance. If markets were perfectly competitive, the issue of management satisfaction with channels would be irrelevant. Since the cost of operating in such markets would be zero, there would be little or no incentive to impose any impediments to free market exchange (McManus, 1975). Transaction costs emerge as an important factor in the measure of satisfaction. They exist because a less-thanperfect market requires monitoring and enforcement of contractual compliance. The notion that lower transaction costs should lead to greater satisfaction is based on the theory that lower transaction costs enhance performance. Satisfaction should follow from improved performance. Noordewier et al. (1990) have provided empirical support for the idea that rms which adhere to the prescriptions of the transaction cost model have enhanced performance.

Research hypothesis
As mentioned above, applying the expectancy-peformance discrepancy model and TCA model as theoretical background resulted in channel satisfaction. The research hypothesis that decides channel satisfaction can be presented as follows. Prior expectations com-

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pared to actual performance result in an evaluation of satisfaction (Day, 1984). When international rms choose to sell product in foreign markets, they expect greater sales prot in comparison with domestic markets. At this time, if international distribution channel performance is higher than domestic performance, the higher its satisfaction with an international channel will be. Consequently, domestic channel performance provides a benchmark for assessing international channel performance, and also is a major deciding factor in satisfaction with international channels. In addition, the satisfaction-dissatisfaction paradigm that depends on the concept of expectancy-performance discrepancy is a function of expectations, and it may be related to rms experience. The more realistic such expectations, the greater the satisfaction. Feasible expectations may be expected to be positively associated with prior experience. In general, the more experience a rm has in foreign markets, the easier it will be to choose a satisfactory channel. A rms experience can be positively associated with channel satisfaction. The following two hypotheses are presented: H1: The higher operation performance of international channels relative to domestic channels, the higher its satisfaction with its international channels will be. H2: The more experience a rm has in foreign markets, the higher its satisfaction with international channels will be. Channel satisfaction is also inuenced by the control which a rm can exert over its channel operations. More control is believed to allow the rm to carry out its marketing program more fully and achieve better feedback from the market. H3: The greater control exerted by a rm, the higher its satisfaction with its existing channels will be. The initial decision of the degree of channel commitment when the rm enters a foreign market is crucial, since later changes may be difcult to make and initial commitments cannot easily be terminated (Brasch, 1981). Klein and Roth (1993) argue that if the exit option is not available, managers will have low satisfaction with channel arrangements. Even under perfect market conditions, the ability to change channels may be limited. H4: The greater the perceived ability to change channels, the higher the rms

satisfaction with its existing channels will be. Environmental uncertainty is an important dimension leading to market failure (Williamson, 1985). Uncertainty, given bounded rationality, precludes the writing and enforcement of contingent claims contracts that specify every eventuality and consequent responses (Anderson and Weitz, 1986). Uncertainty raises the need to monitor channel members behavior, the cost of such monitoring, and the cost of enforcement. Consequently, uncertainty should also be reected by reduced satisfaction with existing marketing channels. H5: The greater the environmental uncertainty, the lower the rms satisfaction with its existing channels will be. Environmental uncertainty, which makes it difcult to monitor the behavior of agents, is exacerbated in international markets by geographical and cultural separation. Uncertainty in the foreign market allows negative information asymmetries to develop, and provides the potential for outside intermediaries to behave opportunistically. The transaction cost model suggests that the greater the ability to monitor the channel, the lower the degree of opportunism allowed. H6: The more difcult it is to monitor the behavior of channel members, the lower the rms satisfaction with its existing channels will be. When the rm decides to export a product, its options entail different entry modes and different intermediaries. At one extreme, the rm can provide all of the marketing functions itself through vertical integration; this is a hierarchical mode. At the other extreme, the rm may provide none of the export functions itself and use merchant distributors instead; this is a market mode. An intermediate mode, where the rm performs some functions internally and contracts for others in the market, is also common. An example of this type of intermediate mode is the use of commission agents. If the entry mode was chosen correctly and is still appropriate for the existing market conditions, high satisfaction should exist. If the market conditions have changed and the entry mode is no longer appropriate, satisfaction should be lower. There is no reason to believe, however, that either greater or lesser integra-

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tion, or any particular channel structure, will be universally appropriate or engender higher satisfaction than any other channel structure. H7: There is no difference in channel satisfaction between the types of channels.

Methodology
Research design This study was carried out over the period 1-30 July 1995 and used a mail survey method to gather cross-sectional data on satisfaction with international marketing channels. The researcher focused on recurrent export transactions since the occasional, unsolicited order from an intermediary does not yield meaningful satisfaction evaluations. Key informants who received the survey were identied from the exporters directory of the Korean Electronic Manufacturing Promotion Association. The researcher surveyed 121 electronic export rms located in the Seoul and Kyeong Ki areas after excluding those dealing solely with unprocessed primary products in the directory. The researcher selected individual informants on the basis of their position in the organization and their expected knowledge. Fifty-one rms in the research population responded to the survey, but six of the 51 were omitted because they failed to respond to three or more of the important items in the questionnaire which result in difculty with statistical handling. Forty-ve export rms were nally selected. Construct measurement The researcher asked each respondent to provide some general background information on his company and report the rms major export products in its major export market. Most questions used ve-point, Likert-type scales. Pre-test analysis revealed no problems with these questions. The degree of channel satisfaction was measured on a ve-point agree-disagree scale (Bearden and Teel, 1983). Relative performance was measured by prot margin rate per export product and the net prot degree of the export arrangement relative to domestic market performance. To assess the rms experience, respondents indicated the number of years involved in exporting, the percentage of export arrangements relative to gross sales amount, and the number of overseas markets. The

rms control was measured in terms of the degree of domestic parent corporation control related to product quality, design, price, and promotion. The ability to change channels was obtained from the respondents agreement with the statement, It would be very difcult to change the type of marketing channel which we use, for it may result in risk of sales decrease and increase of transfer cost. The environmental uncertainty referred to whether the environment surrounding the transaction is predictable by the rm. Three items measured whether the rm was often surprised by foreign agents, competitors, and customer reaction. Difculty in monitoring referred to whether outside agents have opportunistic inclination. Three items measured whether the rm was inuenced by the offer of distorted information by foreign agents, ineffective selling behavior of middle agents, and erratic behavior of agents. The researcher elicited the channel structure measured by asking respondents to identify which of three descriptions best matched the institutional arrangements that existed for the sale of the particular product to the particular market. The descriptions were of a market mode, an intermediate mode and a hierarchy mode.

Analysis of data
The researcher asked what was the main export products of the selected rms. Looking at the data presented in Table I, it was classied by four types of products: 55.6 percent of the total sample consisted of houshold electronic goods, the remaining percentage were industrial electronic goods, electronic spare parts, etc. Another prole of respondents is presented in Table II. It shows the number of employees, the amount of capital stock, the annual sales and the number of years in business. The types of export distribution channel were

Table I Main export products

Classication of products Industrial electronic goods Electronic spare parts Household electronic goods Others Total

No. of rms 8 25 7 5 45

Percentage 17.8 55.6 15.6 11.0 100

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Table II Proles of respondents

Item/classication

No. of rms 10 21 14 8 18 19 15 17 13 18 17 10

Percentage 22.2 46.7 31.1 17.8 40 42.2 33.3 37.8 28.9 40 37.8 22.2

Number of employees Less than 100 100-1,000 More than 1,000 Amount of capital stock ($) Less than 1 million $1million -20million More than 20million Annual sales ($) Less than 10million $10million-100million More than 100million Number of years in business Less than 10 10-20 More than 20

analysis method and also used VARIMAX method in data rotation. The result of the factor analysis on six variables was represented by eigen value of each factor being almost greater than 1.0. The use of six variables was represented discriminant validity existent (see Table V).

Results and discussion

The results of the study were tested by a multiple regression analysis method. Table VI shows that the model has an R-square of 0.52. Of the six variables, relative performance and control variables are statistically signicant (P < 0.1, P < 0.01). Four other variables are statistically insignicant, and the channel structure variable is supported by the null hypothesis. Table VI shows that the higher operation performance of international channel relative to domestic channel, the higher the satisfaction with international channels will be as predicted. So the hypothesis is supported on account of being statistically signicant( P < 0.1). The main reason for overseas business commitment of international rms is not only overseas market searching, but also in hopes that overseas performance compared to domestic performance will increase relatively. At this time, if the performance of international channels is relatively higher in comparison to domestic channels, the satisfaction of the currently used international channel will increase. Therefore, as there is consistency between prior expectations and actual performance regarding the currently used international channel, the satisfaction of the international channel will be higher. This result

classied by three types according to the degree of vertical integration. The three types are market mode, intermediate mode, and hierarchy mode (see Table III). The researcher investigated internal consistency using Cronbachs alpha coefcient for verifying the reliability of independent variables. Because the item impeding internal consistency was represented as export performance proportion relative to gross annual sales amount among variables of the rms experience, it was excluded. Most of the independent variables were selected, because the Cronbachs alpha coefcents were more than 0.50 classifying acceptance basis of exploratory research. These results are presented in Table IV. Next, to verify unidimensionality of variables which means discriminant validity, the researcher selected the common factor
Table III Kinds of export distribution channel structures

Large classication Market mode

Small classication Export through foreign agent Export through domestic merchant (sub total) Export through foreign subsidiary Export through foreign branch ofce Export through joint venture Direct export (Sub total) Export through foreign commision agent Total 228

No. of rms 8 9 17 5 4 3 4 16 12 45

Percentage

37.8

Hierarchy mode

35.6 26.6 100

Intermediate mode

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Table IV Reliability of variables

The number of measured items Variable Initial Last Alpha coefcient N/A N/A 2 2 0.94

A: Channel structure Intermediate mode (A1) Market mode (A2) B: Operation performance Sales margin rate (B1) Sales net prot amount (B2) C: The rms experience Initial export year (C1) Number of foreign markets (C3) D: Control Quality decision (D1) Price decision (D2) Promotion decision (D3) E: Changeability Risk of sales decrease (E1) Excess of channel transfer cost (E2) F: Environmental uncertainty Behavior of foreign agents (F1) Behavior of competitive rm (F2) Behavior of consumer (F3) G: Monitoring difculty Offer of distorted information by foreign merchant (G1) Ineffective selling behavior of foreign merchant (G2) Erratic behavior of foreign merchant (G3)

0.51

0.73

0.79

0.76

0.84

Table V Factor analysis

Measurement item B1 B2 C1 C3 D1 D2 D3 E1 E2 F1 F2 F3 G1 G2 G3 Eigen value Covariance

Factor 1 Monitoring 0.08861 0.09456 0.08110 0.08324 0.08783 0.10795 0.05305 0.13933 0.07778 0.28487 0.01246 0.30529 0.70132 0.83231 0.80789 2.09 21.4

Factor 2 Performance 0.91422 0.88277 0.14464 0.02149 0.20123 0.04553 0.02202 0.33650 0.07326 0.17205 0.02022 0.09403 0.06135 0.05413 0.08566 1.85 18.9

Factor 3 Control 0.10123 0.12093 0.14975 0.07570 0.58001 0.81749 0.79093 0.08009 0.10666 0.13233 0.04460 0.15893 0.12690 0.05747 0.11630 1.78 18.2

Factor 4 Uncertainty 0.05572 0.00589 0.22759 0.15150 0.07853 0.06389 0.07055 0.00144 0.08709 0.63843 0.75423 0.68554 0.38437 0.05747 0.13366 1.72 17.6 229

Factor 5 Changeability 0.14068 0.23274 0.03701 0.03314 0.09653 0.06661 0.02724 0.76493 0.79742 0.07938 0.07298 0.18605 0.07146 0.04590 0.03434 1.37 14

Factor 6 Experience 0.02565 0.16448 0.55293 0.68729 0.07350 0.08580 0.02759 0.05503 0.03796 0.22818 0.08329 0.01260 0.19931 0.17820 0.08793 0.96 9.8

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Table VI Multiple regression results on channel satisfaction

Independent variables Constant Relative performance Experience Control Changeability Uncertainty Monitoring Intermediate mode Hierarchy mode

Beta 0 0.75 0.15 0.44 0.14 0.04 0.12 0.21 0.02

T-statistic
0.76 5.34 1.04 4.98 0.80 0.31 0.78 2.58 0.06

Signicance 0.4540 0.0001* 0.3063 0.0560** 0.4319 0.7592 0.4406 0.5638 0.9511

Notes: R2 = 0.52; F = 18.23; n = 45; * = P 0.01 (1 tailed t-test); ** = P 0.10 (1 tailed t-test)

shows that the hypothesis on the expectancyperformance discrepancy model is supported. A relationship between company experience and satisfaction with international channels is statistically insignicant, but the direction of the relationship is afrmative as predicted. This non-signicant result is unexpected. This result differs from preceding research (Klein and Roth, 1993). Generally it has been expected that the more experience a rm has in foreign markets, the higher its satisfaction with its international channels will be. It can be supposed that the reason for rejecting this hypothesis is as follows. Foreign market entry characteristics of Korean electronic rms have shown that companies having a lot of experience in foreign markets have a relative competitive price advantage in terms of production cost. However, existing international channel types are difcult to change due to human and physical resources scarcity, the excess of channel transfer expense, and host country regulations. Therefore, it can be supported that the relation between foreign experience and channel satisfaction may be different according to the industrial characteristics of each country. As for control of the rm activity and international channel satisfaction, there is a signicant relation (P < 0.01). This result suggests that more control allows the rm to perform marketing programs efciently and respond to the external market situation quickly, so channel satisfaction will be higher. As the relation between channel transfer possibility and channel satisfaction is statistically insignicant, the hypothesis is rejected. This result differs from Klein and Roths research (1993). They suggested that channel satisfaction is higher when there is another channel

transfer alternative, otherwise when there is no alternative, channel satisfaction is lower. This result implies that respondent errors, as well as errors within the questionnaire such as indistinct operational denition of measurement variables, can occur. There is no signicance between environment uncertainty and channel satisfaction. So the hypothesis is rejected. This is different with Klein and Roths (1993) research. This result suggests that Korean electronic rms are willing to take risks in searching for new foreign markets in spite of market unpredictability and surprisability. Therefore, according to the relevant industry characteristics, channel satisfaction may be different. As for opportunistic inclination of foreign middle merchants and international channel satisfaction, there is an insignicant relation, so the hypothesis is rejected. This result supposes that Korean electronic rms with a lot of market commitment experiences in foreign markets will reduce the opportunistic inclination of independent middle agents. The relation between channel structure and channel satisfaction is identied with null hypothesis, meaning, there is no difference in channel satisfaction between the types of channels. This result shows that nonsignicant coefcients support the hypothesis as expected

Conclusions
This study is an exploratory research for examining the question of the determinants of channel satisfaction through the use of hypothesis testing and respondents proles. Though this study has a lot of problems in terms of theoretical and methodological

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perspective, some implications can be presented as follows. First, from a theoretical background, the author nds that the expectancy-performance discrepancy model to determine channel satisfaction according to the difference between prior expectations and actual performance is supported. However, transaction cost analysis model is partly supported. These results show that the transaction cost theory, that is, hierarchy mode, is preferred to market mode for minimizing transaction cost, partly related to channel satisfaction. This result differs from other preceding research (Klein and Roth, 1993 ; Noordewier et al., 1990). Future research is needed to determine whether this is an artifact of the current study or a real difference. Second, as for channel structure, we nd there is no reason to believe that either the level of channel integration or any particular channel structure will be generally appropriate or engender higher satisfation than any other channel structure. This means that the option of channel structure depends on the conditions of the foreign market entry country. Third, from a methodological perspective, this study shows limitations in many ways. Construct measurement of variables need to be measured multi-dimensionally. Specically, better measures of channel uncertainty and middle agents opportunism need to be developed to apply diverse contingency. Lastly, this study is based on cross-sectional data, but future research needs to study using longitudinal data, because channel satisfaction may not only change according to the internal and external contingency of rms, but change over time. There is also a need for advancing the reliability and validity of data by receiving questionnaires from key respondents.

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