The Relationship Exchange in Chinese Business-To-Business Marketing

Abstract

Developing networks of mutual dependence, and creating a sense of obligation and indebtedness is a key to building successful relationships with Chinese communities, and often serves as a lubricant for exchange. While a long-term orientation exists in both Chinese and Western relational practice, the underlying mechanism is somewhat different. Compared with Western concepts of marketing relationships, which are often impersonal, the social capital owned by an individual at the personal level is more apparent in Chinese relations. Whilst in a Western context, the long-term orientation is contingent on trust and commitment, the underlying mechanism that explains the impact of trust on long-term orientation in Chinese relationships is ‘renqing’, which refers to one's obligation of repaying favors and showing empathy to partners involved in their business network.