A Ntecedents And Outcomes Of Voice Behavior In Marketing Channel

Channel voice is the behavior of channel members actively communicating their ideas,opinions,and concerns to upstream channel members in response to issues in the channel,which is of great significance in channel practice and theoretical research.Manufacturing companies in the upstream of the channel are far away from the end market and consumers and face many challenges when dealing with changes in market demand and iterations of knowledge and technology,so the demand information and innovative ideas held by downstream channel members are of great strategic importance to manufacturing companies.At the same time,with increasing marketization and digitalization,downstream channel companies face fierce competition from omnichannel strategies,e-commerce platforms,and vertical integration of upstream companies within their marketing channels,and are in urgent need of additional efforts to provide value-added services to upstream partners that are difficult to replace,to enhance the quality of channel relationships,attract scarce and valuable channel resources and policy support,and ensure their sustainable development.As a result,in marketing channel practice,there are many examples of downstream companies actively offering advice to upstream companies,which has a significant impact on channel relationships,the overall operation of the channel,and even the implementation of industry policies.However,existing theoretical studies lack sufficient attention to channel voice behavior.First,most of the research focuses on employee voice in organizations,while the research on channel voice behavior is in the exploratory stage and has not yet explored how the voice behavior of channel members affects the overall relationship quality of the channel.While voice behavior can provide innovative and unique insights into channel cooperation,it is also challenging and may lead to dissatisfaction and conflict among channel partners.Therefore,the uniqueness and importance of voice behavior in channel behavior theory can only be clearly defined by deeply exploring the results of channel voice behavior on the quality of channel relationships.Second,research on channel voice behavior lacks an examination of the different types of voice and the different motivations behind them.Existing research has focused on the promotive characteristics of channel voice behavior,arguing that channel members are driven by factors such as responsibility and relationship marketing orientation,ignoring the challenging characteristics of voice behavior and the role of negative factors such as channel stress.Therefore,a comprehensive exploration of the promotive and prohibitive components of voice would help to gain insight into the differences in the motivations behind different types of voice.Third,current research has not yet explored the results of channel members’ voice behavior on their own performance.Channel behavior theory suggests that channel members can use power or relational behaviors to enhance the overall and their own economic performance;however,channel voice behavior goes beyond channel roles or norms and works by influencing channel partners’ perceptions about channel relationships or the external environment.Therefore,exploring how channel members use voice behavior to enhance their own performance can help fill the gaps in existing channel behavior theories.Therefore,building in-depth theoretical insights into the voice behavior of channel members in the context of the manufacturer-distributor relationship,this research paper aims to address the gaps in existing research by focusing on the following three questions.The research focuses on the questions of "How does distributor voice affect channel relationships","Why do distributors voice their opinions to manufacturers" and "How do distributors use voice to improve their performance".The study explores in depth the mechanisms that shape and influence distributors’ voice.Specifically,the study consists of three sub-studies:Stu dy 1 combines sensemaking theory and channel behavior theory to analyze the impact and boundaries of distributor voice on the quality of channel relationships;Study 2 bridges the theoretical divides in the study of voice behavior through sensemaking theory,and dissects the different motivations of distributor voice under a specific dependency structure;Study 3 further integrates the sensemaking theory framework with channel behavior theory and voice behavior research to explore how distributors use voice behavior to enhance their economic performance.The three studies form a complete logical framework around distributor voice behavior within the overall framework of sensemaking theory;they are independent of each other and interrelated,describing,explaining,and portraying distributor voice behavior in a progressively deeper way,while completing the interdisciplinary integration of voice behavior research and channel behavior theory.In order to answer these three questions,this study mainly adopts literature research,survey research,and empirical research.Based on a systematic review of theories related to voice behavior research,channel behavior theory,and sensemaking theory,a reasonable hypothesis logic is proposed and measurement indicators are selected.The research data were collected through field interviews,pre-research,and face-to-face questionnaires,and the hypotheses were empirically tested through hierarchical regression analysis.After critical data collection,questionnaire survey,and empirical analysis,this study obtained the following research findings.Study 1 found that distributor voice has a significant inverted U-shaped effect on the channel relationship quality,with channel interdependence and opportunistic climate enhancing and weakening this effect respectively.Specifically,to the extent appropriate,distributor voice can motivate manufacturers to frame the channel relationship positively,while excessive voice can cause manufacturers to be skeptical and negative in their perception of cooperation with distributors,thereby reducing the quality of the channel relationship.This process varies with the level of channel interdependence and the opportunistic climate,with the impact of distributor voice on channel relationship quality being enhanced when channel dependence is high and the opportunistic climate is low.Study 2 focuses on the different drivers behind distributors’promotive and prohibitive voice.Based on a sensegiving process,it is found that distributors’ perceived channel pressure acts as a trigger to a certain extent to trigger distributors’ prohibitive voice but not promotive voice,while distribution’s channel centrality acts as a facilitator to drive distributors’ promotive and inhibitive voice.Moreover,the greater the relative dependence of distributors on manufacturers,the stronger the channel pressure and centrality trigger and facilitates distributors’ voice.Study 3 focuses on how distributors use promotive and prohibitive voice to improve their economic performance.It was found that both promotive and prohibitive voice could enhance distributors’ economic performance,with promotive voice being more applicable to manufacturers from more market-oriented regions,where its positive impact on economic performance was enhanced;however,if manufacturers were more opportunistic,the positive impact of promotive voice was weakened.The prohibitive voice is more appropriate in situations where manufacturers are more opportunistic and contribute more to the economic performance of distributors,but when dealing with manufacturers from more market-oriented regions,the positive effect of distributor prohibitive voice on their economic performance is reduced.The findings have important theoretical value.This study explores the antecedents and effects of distributor voice within the framework of sensemaking theory,making a useful attempt to extend the interdisciplinary study of voice behavior from the field of organizational behavior to the field of marketing channels.First,it explores the impact of distributor voice on channel relationships and enriches the research findings of channel behavior theory.From the perspective of sensemaking,this paper reveals the double-edged sword effect of distributor voice on channel relationships,emphasizing that the impact of distributor voice depends on how manufacturers identify cues and apply a positive or negative frame,providing a worthwhile theoretical perspective for a balanced examination of channel members’ extra-role behavior,relational behavior or relationship marketing efforts.Second,this study explores the motivation of different types of voice behavior through the sensegiving process and analyzes the influence of channel stress and channel centrality on distributor voice in terms of both triggering and facilitating factors,providing a worthwhile analytical framework for the in-depth development of voice behavior research.Finally,this study portrays the impact of promotive and prohibitive voice on distributors’economic performance,expanding the strategic importance of channel behavior.This study expands the scope and theoretical perspective of marketing strategy research by finding that voice behavior provides manufacturers with a cognitive framework within which they can make their own decisions that benefit the channel and distributors,without necessarily requiring,limiting,or constraining manufacturers’ actions through contracts and relationships.In terms of marketing channel practices,the findings of this study can provide key implications for channel members.On the one hand,it can help distributors to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of voice behavior on channel relationships and their performance,and to more effectively adopt appropriate voice behavior in line with the channel environment and manufacturer characteristics.This study reveals the double-edged sword effect of voice behavior,suggesting that channel members cannot take for granted that their goodwill or extra effort will necessarily improve the channel relationship,but that the effectiveness of such behavior depends on whether the other party perceives the goodwill conveyed by the channel member and gives positive feedback.Therefore,to achieve better results,distributors need to strategically adapt to the needs and characteristics of different manufacturers,so that manufacturers feel that they are getting to the heart of the matter,to make their suggestions more likely to be adopted,and to drive constructive channel development.On the other hand,the findings of this study on the drivers of distributor voice can also provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for manufacturers to understand distributors,helping them to better extract valuable cues and information from distributor voice behavior.Manufacturers can identify the motivations behind the different types of channel partners’ voice,to understand their partners’ business situation.Manufacturers should give timely attention and moderate support to distributors who frequently engage in prohibitive voice to alleviate the pressure on the distributor;for distributors involved in both promotive and prohibitive voice,manufacturers should give them sufficient attention because they are likely to be at the center of the channel’s distribution network and have access to unique information and resources that may be constructive to the overall development of the channel.Although this study has tried to follow the standard research paradigm,there are still some shortcomings that need to be further explored in future studies.Firstly,this study relied mainly on a quantitative study of questionnaires from distributors which could not delicately portray the sensegiving and sensemaking processes involved in distributors’voice.Future research could use a variety of data structures,combined with case studies and contextual experiments,to gain insight into the motivations and outcomes of channel members’ voice.Secondly,this paper mainly focuses on two drivers,namely channel pressure and channel centrality,at the distributor level,and lacks exploration of the motivations of other levels of constructs.Future research could further explore the motivations of various members of the channel in terms of manufacturer,channel relationship,and institutional environment to build a systematic understanding of this channel behavior.Finally,from a contextual analysis perspective,this study describes the driving and influencing mechanisms of voice mainly through the moderating role,but does not directly examine their mediating mechanisms.Future research could explore more of the mediating variables and contextual factors associated with channel voice,and provide a direct and detailed analysis of the mechanisms that drive and influence channel voice.