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China’s economy is transforming at a brisk pace. A partially dismantled command economy and introduction of competition have fueled consumer demand for a greater selection of innovative new products in the retail market. The challenge for retail buyers is to adjust their procurement processes to respond to consumer needs in an efficient and effective manner. This study examines factors influencing buyer‐supplier relationships in a transition economy. We present a model to explain the factors driving retail buyer dependence on suppliers. We find that retailer evaluation of supplier credibility mediates the relationship between retailer perceptions of a supplier ability to add value to its business and the ability to achieve its desired goals. In part, this is due to the supplier’s market orientation. Interestingly, guanxi ties have no impact on the retailer perceptions of the supplier credibility, but have a positive affect on retailer dependence on its supplier partners.

This paper's aim is to identify structural and relational factors influencing the upstream channel management of organized retailers in India.

In‐depth interviews were conducted with 15 organized retailers and two manufacturers in India. Data were analyzed using the thematic network analysis technique from qualitative research. The authors use the framework of institutional theory to guide the discussion.

The findings suggest that government regulations influence the supply chain structure in India. Relational bonds offset the uncertainty borne of weak institutions. Informational transparency and long‐term orientation foster trust between channel partners. This trust, in turn, leads to collaborative partnerships.

The findings have implications for multinationals planning to enter the Indian retail industry. There is a need to understand complex regulatory and social institutions in India. The uniqueness of these institutions calls for adaptive strategies toward channel management.

The paper contributes to the literature on the supply chain structure in India. Despite growing interest in the Indian retailing industry, not many studies reflect on the specific B2B exchange structure in India. The paper fills this gap and also provides several marketing implications for multinational retailers planning to enter the Indian market.

The purpose of this study is to compare two models, traditional‐ and performance‐based, of Japanese retailers' channel relationships. The traditional model proposes Japanese retailers' long‐term orientation with their supplier is an antecedent of Japanese retailers' trust and dependence on the supplier. The performance model, on the other hand, proposes significant influences of suppliers' role performance and dependence on channel relationships.

Data were collected from Japanese department store buyers and specialty store buyers. A total of 141 cases were analyzed using the EQS structural equation modeling software.

Results show that the traditional model had a higher explanatory power than the performance model, which indicates the strong influence of culture on Japanese channel relationships.

Some measures have relatively poor psychometric properties. A further study should refine these measurements by exploring the meanings of these constructs from the cultural context.

This study provides insight into how cultural influences are embedded in distribution channel relationships.

Retailers act as assemblers of merchandise, selecting goods from among a wide range of available products in order to enhance customer value and loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Chinese retail buying system, focusing on the buying committee, which is defined as a group of individuals from different positions that have the authority to make final judgments and decisions regarding such matters as adding or eliminating new products.

This study uses a survey administered to retail buyers.

Results of independent t‐tests support the hypothesis that the influence of guanxi will be greater in the retail firms without a buying committee. State‐owned enterprises are more likely to use a buying committee than non‐state‐owned enterprises.

Although the sample represents buyers from many regions in China it is not a random sample; this limits the generalizing of results.

Suppliers wishing to sell to Chinese retailers need to know how selling to a retailer using a buying committee will affect their access to buyers.

This is the only paper describing research that focuses on the internal structure of a buying committee within a Chinese retail store. Data of this nature are extremely difficult to obtain.

Buyers in China often communicate positive and negative purchasing experiences through word‐of‐mouth (WOM), which creates special problems and opportunities for marketers. Price mavenism, which is associated with price‐information searching and price‐sharing behavior, is often considered a negative dimension of price. The purpose of this paper, however, is to propose price mavenism as an outcome variable arising from both positive perceptions of price (prestige sensitivity) and negative perceptions (price and value consciousness) and examine that the “know” (price mavenism) will positively impact the “glow” (shopping hedonism) among the Chinese.

Data were collected through a survey in Shanghai, China. The conceptual model was tested using structural equation modeling.

This study found that prestige sensitivity, price consciousness and value consciousness shaped price mavenism among the Chinese, supporting the idea that price mavenism arises from both positive and negative perceptions of price. In addition, for the Chinese, being a source of price information and sharing the knowledge with their social groups fulfill a hedonic motivation for shopping. While value consciousness was positively associated with shopping hedonism, price consciousness per se was not.

This study challenges the idea that price mavenism is mainly explained by a negative perception of price.

By understanding the drivers of price mavenism and their impacts on shopping hedonism, international marketers can fine‐tune their marketing strategies to appeal more effectively to price mavens in China.

This study highlights the importance of cultural perspectives in understanding the structure of price mavenism and its theoretical and marketing foundations.

This study seeks to examine the influence of market orientation on Chinese buyer‐supplier relations. A model is proposed depicting relationships among retailer market orientation, supplier market intelligence, supplier role performance, and retailer economic and social satisfaction.

Data were collected from 99 chain store buyers and managers from 25 cities in China. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

A retailer's market orientation is critical for its own economic and social satisfaction by increasing supplier market intelligence (MI) and supplier role performance.

Retailers' MO increased supplier MI and role performance. This study found that economic performance was more important in channel relationships than social relationships. Therefore, suppliers should focus on improving retailers' economic satisfaction through role performance and market intelligence rather than social satisfaction.

Previous MO literature has focused primarily on the firm's performance and ignored the interactive aspect of business performance among channel members. The current study fills this gap by demonstrating the significant influences of retailer MO on supplier MI and on supplier role performance, as well as on retailer satisfaction – both the economic and social components. To the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first to relate retailer MO, supplier MI, and supplier role performance to two types of retailer satisfaction – i.e. economic and social satisfaction.

Buying decisions are often viewed as random and therefore not generalizable. Additionally, retail buying is typically conducted by individuals and is impacted by cultural considerations. The aim of this paper is to identify critical incidents from China and India, and use theoretical concepts from buyer‐supplier literature to explain the outcome success or failure.

The paper uses the critical incident technique to capture retail buying decisions that resulted in either successful or unsuccessful outcomes. The authors analyze and match each critical incident with theoretical evidence to explain the result.

A total of ten critical incidents were described by ten senior retail‐buying executives in China and India. Critical incidents were classified under four retailing categories: assortment planning, product promotion, sourcing issues, and supply chain issues, and analyzed under four theoretical themes: opportunism, trust, long‐term orientation and power‐dependence.

Organized retailing is a new phenomenon in China and India. This study bears implications for the training of future retail buyers in both emerging economies, and emphasizes the integration of scientific, modern methods of decision‐making with the cultural values of the local country.

This study is unique because it relies on the voice of the retail buyer to explain real‐world decision making with theoretical evidence from buyer‐supplier literature. Methodologically, this paper is unique as it reports on the first study using critical incident interview techniques to study professional retail‐buying practices.

Japanese department stores have gained significant market‐share in several Pacific Rim countries. In this paper, factors related to internationalization are discussed. Dunning's eclectic approach is considered as a framework for explaining internationalization. Profits, number of employees, and dollars spent for research and development are independent variables used to predict internationalization. Japanese department stores with international offices versus no international offices were correctly classified 83% of the time. Those retailers with international offices had greater profit, more employees, and more R&D funds than those without international offices. A two by two matrix focusing on growth and store format is presented to explain Japanese retailers' international expansion. Propositions for future research are presented.

Consumers use a variety of information cues to select products; price, however, is the most important. It is possible that the market environment can influence how price is viewed by consumers. The purpose of this study is to: establish validity and reliability for multidimensional aspects of the price construct; to explore how US and Korean students are different or similar in their perception of price cues; and to use countries’ retail environments to explore the differences. Findings of this study show that US subjects have higher levels of prestige sensitivity, price mavenism and value consciousness, than did Korean students. However, Koreans exhibited higher levels of sale proneness and price consciousness. Theoretical and managerial implications were suggested based on these findings.

The main aim of this paper is to provide research propositions that explain global retailers' international expansion. Global retailers are considered to be concentralized‐standardized retail formats.

Research literature is used to develop the concepts related to predicting international expansion. Examples from retailers are used to set the stage for proposition development.

Seven propositions are provided for further examination. These propositions are related to unique retail concept, private brands, unique capability, internalization advantages, pioneering advantages, resource availability, governance resources, and growth experience.

This is a conceptual paper leading to development of propositions for further testing. An empirical analysis is required to determine whether the theoretical connections can be proven.

The major value of the paper is the melding of theory and retail examples to explain the international expansion of a particular type of retailer. Global retailers are centralized and standardized, thereby providing an expansion opportunity in the area of franchising.