An empirical investigation of customer dependence in interpersonal buyer‐seller relationships

Purpose In the current highly competitive marketing environment, there are few situations in which customers attempt to build and maintain relationships with marketers. In large‐format retail situations, customers maintain a non‐personal association with the store and personal relationships with salespersons. By contrast, many customers in developing countries such as India build and maintain long‐term relationships directly with the small‐scale...