A Contingency Perspective of Communication, Conflict Resolution and Buyer Search Effort in Buyer‐Supplier Relationships

SUMMARY This study investigates the moderating effects of buying context on the relationship between communication elements and the effort buyers exert while searching for new suppliers throughout a buyer‐supplier relationship development process. A mail survey of members of the Institute for Supply Management™ was conducted and the data were analyzed using moderated regression. The results suggest that company size, buyer experience,...