Emergence of Social Power in Business to Business Relationships: An Abstract

Abstract

The emergence of social power has a dramatic impact on the relationships between buyer and seller, specifically in business to business relationships. Businesses can no longer simply advertise a product they want potential business customers to see; the evolution of technology has led to a power shift that buyers and sellers must recognize. The conceptual framework proposed in this paper investigates and discusses the factors behind emergence of social power in business to business relationships. There is a certain amount of power that can be held by the buyer and by the seller in a buyer-seller dyadic relationship. The nature of these power structures is based on both professional and situational variables that are present in the buyer-seller relationship. The integral power structures associated with social power can have a significant impact on the types of relationships developed, the relationship activities pursued, and the attributes required for profitable relationship outcomes (Anderson and Johanson 1994; Cannon and Perreault 1999; Meehan and Wright 2012; Möller and Halinen 1999; Pereira et al. 2016; Subbian et al. 2014). Competitive success, consumption experience, and buyer empowerment becomes increasingly contingent on buyer-seller relationships (Meehan and Wright 2012). To capture this complex phenomenon, the present study addresses the research question: RQ1: How does social power emerge in business to business buyer-seller relationships? Due to the lack of a well-established source of social power (Seligman 1974; Simon and Oakes 2006; Schaerer et al. 2016; Wrong 1968), we explored the research question using two theories: an identity model of power by Simon and Oakes (2006) and the theory of social power by French and Raven (1959). We agree with French (1959), that influence is grounded in the definition of social power, and influence is defined in terms of psychological change through manifest power. However, an integrative model of interaction among identity, legitimacy, and power potential provide the platform for defining how social power emerges. Researchers are working with various parts of these constructs (Clauss and Bouncken 2019; Courpasson 2000; French 1956; Franco et al. 2014; French and Raven 1959; Johnson et al. 2006; Tajfel and Turner 1978; Sparks and Shepherd 1992), however, in developing a conceptual model of the emergence of social power, we explore the role of business identities in forming perceptions of legitimacy and their interplay with two key variables, namely influence, and power in forming social power.