Intangible value in buyer–seller relationships

Roger Baxter

doi:10.1016/S1069-0964(08)14002-9

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Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing

ISSN: 1069-0964
Series editor(s): Professor Arch Woodside

Subject Area: Marketing

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Intangible value in buyer–seller relationships

Document Information:
Title:	Intangible value in buyer–seller relationships
Author(s):	Roger Baxter
Volume:	14 Editor(s): Arch G. Woodside, Francesca Golfetto, Michael Gibbert ISBN: 978-1-84855-172-5 eISBN: 978-1-84855-173-2
Citation:	Roger Baxter (2008), Intangible value in buyer–seller relationships, in Arch G. Woodside, Francesca Golfetto, Michael Gibbert (ed.) Creating and managing superior customer value (Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing, Volume 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.27-98
DOI:	10.1016/S1069-0964(08)14002-9 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Abstract:	The provision of value, as a marketing issue, is receiving increasing attention from managers and scholars. This attention, in combination with strong calls for better quantification and stronger measures in marketing, has lead to increased interest in the assessment, quantified where possible, of the provision of value through buyer–seller relationships. This paper identifies dimensions of value provision through relationships in business markets with specific emphasis on the intangible aspects of value, which are important to long-term competitive advantage. The provision of value to the seller is the prime focus in this paper. The paper discusses the meaning of both tangible and intangible relationship value and the interplay between them and notes the importance of assessing the intangible part of the value, particularly the part which derives from the human aspects of the relationship. Despite their importance, the human aspects of relationships and their contribution to value is a sparse topic among researchers. The paper compares and evaluates potentially useful relationship and value conceptualizations. The paper discusses studies of relationship value and then outlines the results of a recent line of empirical research into the provision of value by a buyer to a seller that utilizes a framework synthesized from the intellectual capital literature. This recent research conceptualizes the potential for a seller's relationship with a buyer to provide intangible value to the seller in terms of, first, the resources available in the buyer and second, the capabilities of the buyer's boundary personnel to aid in facilitating the flow of those resources to the seller. The paper also includes the softer human aspects in the dimensions of value. These latter aspects are important to a full assessment of value. The paper concludes with a discussion of aspects of intangible relationship value that need further elucidation and will thus provide opportunities for future research.