Distributor Whistleblowing In Marketing Channel:Driving Factors And Outcomes

Distributor whistleblowing refers to the practice of a distributor reporting to the manufacturer the illegal,unethical,or irregular wrongdoings of other distributors in the channel network in the manufacturer-distributor group.The phenomenon of the distributor whistleblowing is universal in the marketing practice.For example,in the baijiu industry,the phenomenon of product counterfeiting has become commonplace in the market,and Kweichow Moutai has also been caught up in it.Against this background,the phenomenon of Maotai distributors reporting the sales of fake liquor by other distributors to manufacturers has emerged.Similarly,in an interview with the channel managers of Wonderson,we learned that they often receive whistleblowings toward the distributors'wrongdoings,such as the breach of the price bottom line or the change of goods,from their peer distributors.The prevalence of distributor whistleblowing comes from two reasons.On the one hand,the traditional channel governance mainly relies on the one-way governance means of manufacturers.For example,some studies have explored how manufacturers reduce the wrong behaviors of partners through pre-contract and post-supervision,as well as the development of personal relationships among border personnel.And the efficiency of the manufacturer's one-way vertical channel governance is limited.There are three reasons.First,because of information asymmetry,it is difficult for manufacturers to fully monitor the actions of distributors.Second,compared with the dual channel relationship between manufacturer and distributor,the channel network structure of manufacturer-distributor group is more complex,which increases the difficulty of management.Third,the resource of manufacturers is limited,and supervising distributors is costly.On the other hand,as the governed party in the channel,the disclosure between distributors is possible.There are also three reasons.First,it is easier for distributors to obtain information,because their market activities are more similar and they pay more attention to each other's behavior in light of the competitive pressure.Moreover,in the background like our country,it is easier for distributors to form a relationship network to speed up the exchange and flow of information.Second,it is easy for distributors to identify each other's misdeeds because they are performing the same functions,so it is easy to identify whether the other party is speculating.Third,as the channel is closely related to the interests of distributors,for example,distributors share the reputation of the same brand,when the wrong behavior of other distributors threatens the brand reputation,their own interests may also be affected,so they are willing to expose to the manufacturer.Based on these three points,whistleblowing between distributors is possible.Although the phenomenon of channel whistleblowing is very common,and can effectively help channel managers restrain the malpractice of channel members,reduce channel losses,and make up for the limitations of vertical channel governance mechanism,academic research on this behavior is very limited.Up to now,the research on whistleblowing mainly focuses on the field of organizational behavior and discusses the whistleblowing behavior of employees within enterprises.Therefore,the following theoretical gaps need to be solved in the study of marketing channel.First,previous researches on channel governance ignored the role of other members in the network.Traditional channel governance studies mainly focus on inter-organizational relationships(such as manufacturer-distributor relationship and buyer-supplier relationship),and devote themselves to the development of vertical and binary governance mechanisms.Although these studies provide profound enlightenment and have far-reaching influence on how to restrain the wrong behaviors of channel members,they ignore the role of other members of channel network in the channel.Secondly,marketing channel research lacks the exploration of the driving factors of channel disclosure behavior.Although we know from news and interviews that channel whistleblowing is very common,few marketing channel scholars have paid attention to this behavior,so our understanding of the influencing factors of channel whistleblowing behavior is very limited.Third,another theoretical gap in marketing channel research is the impact of channel whistleblowing.Because few scholars pay attention to channel whistleblowing,the understanding of its impact in the field of marketing channels is also very limited.In order to solve the theoretical gaps in marketing channel research,this paper aims at the manufacturer-distributor group in the channel background,focusing on the whistleblowing behavior of the distributors who reported the observed misbehavior of other distributors in the channel network to the manufacturer,and answering the following three questions.First,in order to make up for the deficiency of the traditional vertical and binary perspectives in the study of channel governance,this paper focuses on the channel whistleblowing behavior relying on horizontal network.Specifically,this paper focuses on the whistleblowing behavior of distributors under the manufacturer-distributor group structure,and answers the question of what is distributor whistleblowing.Second,in order to fill the theoretical gap in the research on the driving factors of channel whistleblowing behavior in the field of marketing channels,this paper will answer the questions about the influencing factors of distributor whistleblowing behavior.Specifically,this paper examines the driving factors of distributor whistleblowing from the perspective pro-social behavior theory.Thirdly,in order to fill the theoretical gap in the research on the impact of whistleblowing in the field of marketing channels,this paper will answer the question of what is the impact of whistleblowing by distributors?To answer these three questions,we conducted an exploratory study(Study 1)using qualitative method and two divided quantitative studies(Study 2 and Study 3).Although the research on employee whistleblowing in the field of organizational behavior provides us with a rich literature basis,little research has examined the whistleblowing behavior of channel members in the context of channel.Therefore,this study first adopted the method of interview to gain a richer understanding of the whistleblowing behavior of distributors.To be specific,our interview has four main purposes:To confirm the manifestation of distributor whistleblowing(the content of the uncovered wrongdoing);To understand the nature and motivation of distributor whistleblowing;To gain a preliminary understanding of the drivers of distributor whistleblowing;To gain a preliminary understanding of the impact of distributor whistleblowing.Study 2 examines the driving factors of distributor whistleblowing.Specifically,in this paper,combining the theory of prosocial behavior model and the research of marketing channel,we put forward a prosocial behavior model of distributor whistleblowing,and proposed research hypotheses on the effects of distributor's personality traits(responsibility),cognitive factors(distributors special assets investment,distributors and manufacturers of interdependence to manufacturers and distributors of relative dependence level)and emotional factors(distributor trust on manufacturer and manufacturer opportunism on distributor)on whistleblowing.Finally,the second study tested the hypothesis with the method of quantitative research.Study 3 examines the impact of distributor whistleblowing on the quality of their relationship with the manufacturer.At the same time,according to the contingent impact of employee whistleblowing and psychological framework effect,this study takes two trading risksdistributor special assets investment and market uncertainty as two mental framework reference clues,proposes their moderating effects on relationship quality and adopts the method of quantitative study to test.The main findings of this study are as follows.Exploratory qualitative research found that distributor whistleblowing often occurs,and the misconduct uncovered covers four aspects:product,price,place and promotion.The interviewees confirmed the spontaneity and altruism of the whistleblowing,and proposed their internal and external motivations.At the same time,the interviewees' cognition of the influencing factors and effects of distributor whistleblowing is also consistent with the quantitative results of this paper.Study 2 found that,as the main "personality characteristic" of distributors,the sense of conscientiousness can promote the whistleblowing behavior of distributors.As the basic tool of cost-benefit analysis,the dedicated asset investment of distributors is found to have a positive effect on its whistleblowing behavior.As one of the tools to predict the whistleblowing effectiveness,the interdependence between the distributor and the manufacturer has a positive effect on the whistleblowing behavior of the distributor.As main relationship characteristics of manufacuturer-distributor relationship which drive emotional mootivations,distributor trust and manufacturer opportunism have opposite effect on distributor whistleblowing.It is found that distributor trust has a positive effect on distributor's whistleblowing behavior.Manufacturer opportunism has a negative effect on distributor's whistleblowing behavior.We also find some interactive effects between these driving factiors.In the third study,distributor's whistleblowing behavior has a positive impact on the quality of its relationship with the manufacturer;Distributor's relative specific asset investment has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between distributor whistleblowing and manufacturer-distributor relationship quality.Market uncertainty has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between distributor whistleblowing and manufacturer-distributor relationship quality.Based on these findings,this study provides the following theoretical contributions.First of all,the introduction of channel whistleblowing provides new insights for channel governance.Traditional research on channel governance explores from the perspective of channel managers on what governance should be adopted to supervise the operation of channel system under the dual relationship.By proposing that the distribution network contains the whistle-blowing behavior of the whistle-blowing distributor,the offending distributor and the manufacturer who receives the whistle-blowing,this study extends the dual perspective of channel governance to the network level for analysis,and provides a new idea for the implementation of channel governance.At the same time,this paper also proves that the information effect caused by the channel network brings another benefit to the channel manager.By revealing the nature,motivation and results of distributor whistleblowing,this paper expands the understanding of inter-organizational extra-role behavior and enriching the research on channel behavior.Secondly,this paper examines the influencing factors of distributor disclosure according to prosocial behavior theory,transaction cost theory and relationship exchange theory,so as to deepen our understanding of channel disclosure behavior and enrich the research on channel behavior.At the same time,our research results also verify the importance of distributor personality characteristics and other channel elements in channel relationship.Thirdly,according to the psychological framework theory,this paper examines the influence of distributor whistleblowing on the relationship quality between distributor and manufacturer,as well as the moderating effect of transaction risk,so as to expand our understanding of channel whistleblowing behavior and enrich the research literature on channel behavior.Finally,our research extends the focus of whistleblowing from the individual level to the corporate level.Although existing research in social psychology,business ethics,and management has attracted wide attention,most research has focused on.the whistleblowing behavior of individuals.Echoing the call of previous studies,this study focuses on organizational whistleblowing in the context of marketing channels.