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INTRODUCTION
The concept of reverse marketing as originally developed by Leenders and Blenkhorn (1988), was based on some earlier work by one of these authors (Leenders and Henderson 1980; 1981). Reverse marketing is based on the notion that the purchasing agent takes a marketing perspective and convinces the supplier to provide a suitable solution to the buyer's problem. In other words, "give me what I want or suggest a better solution." Such a position suggests a win-win orientation in negotiation, a proactive stance on the part of the buyer, and a close working relationship with the supplier. One would expect that taking such a perspective would improve the buyer seller relationship and, among other things, reduce the inherent conflict between the parties. This kind of approach to purchasing also appears to be in line with recent efforts undertaken by companies to achieve competitive advantage using, what is referred to as supply chain management (Davis 1993; Balseier and Voisin 1996).
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of taking a reverse marketing posture on the buyer's perceived conflict with the seller. The paper begins with a brief literature review of reverse marketing and notes that the concept has yet to be measured. A brief examination of the literature on conflict and its resolution follows along with a specific definition of conflict and description of its measurement. The study is then described and the results presented which demonstrate that purchasing managers who have a reverse marketing behavioral orientation perceive less conflict with salespeople then do more traditional purchasing managers. Finally, an appendix is included which provides the measures of conflict and reverse marketing that are used in this study and the construct validity and reliability examinations that were undertaken.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The concept of reverse marketing was developed by Leenders and Blenkhorn (1988). The concept has had some limited discussion in both the managerial press (Monoky 1993), and the academic literature (Blenkhorn and Leenders 1988; Blenkhorn and Banting 1991; Biemans and Brand 1997). Essentially reverse marketing suggests:
1. An aggressive and imaginative approach to supply objectives
2. Close working relationships with supplier or vendors
3. A win-win perspective on how supply objectives should be met
In effect, the buyer becomes the salesperson, pushing that...