This paper examines the power bases used by the most influential person in the buying centre established for the selection of the services of an advertising agency. Findings suggest that expert power and referent power are important determinants of manifest influence. Kohli's (1989) measure of information power is found to be inadequate, and may require a new scale to measure possession and use of information, as opposed to the process of obtaining information.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonP.F.Marketing, Strategic Planning and the Theory of the FirmJournal of Marketing46198215–26
2.
BelizziJ.A.Product Type and the Relative Influence of Buyers in Commercial ConstructionIndustrial Marketing Management81979213–220
3.
BelizziJ.A.McVeyP.How Valid is the Buy Grid Model?Industrial Marketing Management2198357–62
4.
BelizziJ.A.Organizational Size and Buying InfluencesIndustrial Marketing Management10198117–21
5.
BierstedtR.An Analysis of Social PowerAmerican Sociological Review151950730–738
6.
BristorJ.M.Influence Strategies in Organisational Buying: The Importance Connections to the Right People in the Right PlacesJournal of Business to Business Marketing1199363–95
7.
CattellR.B.New Concepts for Measuring Leadership in Terms of Group SyntalityHuman Relations41951161–184
8.
CattellR.B.Handbook of Multivariate Experimental Psychology1966Rand McNallyChicago
9.
ChurchillG.A.Jr.A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing ConstructsJournal of Marketing Research16197964–73
10.
CooleyJ.JacksonD.OstromI.Analysing the Relative Power of Participants in Industrial Buying DecisionsGreenbergB.BellenderD.Contemporary Marketing Thought1977American Marketing AssociationChicago243–246
11.
CronbachL.J.Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of TestsPsychometrika161951297–334
12.
DahlR.A.The Concept of PowerBehavioural Science21957201–215
13.
DawesP.L.DowlingG.R.PattersonP.G.Criteria Used to Select Management ConsultantsIndustrial Marketing Management211992187–193
14.
DawesP.L.DowlingG.R.PattersonP.G.Factors Affecting the Structure of Buying Centres for the Purchase of Professional Business Advisory ServicesInternational Journal of Research in Marketing91992269–279
15.
DawesP.L.DowlingG.R.PattersonP.G.Information Sources Used to Select Different Types of Management Consultancy ServicesAsia Pacific Journal of Management81991185–199
16.
El-AnsaryA.I.SternL.W.Power Measurement in the Distribution ChannelJournal of Marketing Research9197247–52
EricksonR.A.GrossA.C.Generalizing Industrial Buying: A Longitudinal StudyIndustrial Marketing Management91980253–265
19.
EtzioniA.W.The Active Society1968The Free PressNew York
20.
FrenchJ.R.P.Jr.RavenB.CartwrightD.The Bases of Social Power, in Studies in Social Power, 1959University of Michigan PressAnn Arbor
21.
GaskiJ.F.The Theory of Power and Conflict in Channels of DistributionJournal of Marketing4819849–29
22.
GhoneimA.I. (1987), “Power and Influence Structure Within the Organizational Buying Centre,” unpublished PhD thesis, Pennsylvania State University.
23.
GummessonE.Toward a Theory of Professional Service MarketingIndustrial Marketing Management7197889–95
24.
HicksonD.J.HiningsC.LeeA.SchneckR.E.PenningsJ.M.‘The Strategic Contingencies’ Theory of Intraorganizational PowerAdministrative Science Quarterly161971216–229
25.
HovlandC.I.JanisI.L.KelleyH.H.Communication and Persuasion1953Yale University PressNew Haven
26.
HuntS.D.NevinJ.R.Power in a Channel of Distribution: Sources and ConsequencesJournal of Marketing Research111974186–193
27.
JacksonD.W.KeithJ.E.BurdickR.K.Purchasing Agents’ Perceptions of Industrial Buying Centre Influence: A Situational ApproachJournal of Marketing48198475–83
28.
JacksonR.CooperP.Unique Aspects of Marketing Industrial ServicesIndustrial Marketing Management171988111–118
29.
JamesD.Bigger and Broader is Not Always BountifulBusiness Review Weekly19925June
30.
JohnstonW.J.BonomaT.V.Purchase Process for Capital Equipment and ServicesIndustrial Marketing Management101981253–264
31.
KelmanH.C.Compliance, Identification, and Internalisation: Three Processes of Attitude ChangeJournal of Conflict Resolution2195851–60
32.
KohliA.K.Determinants of Influence in Organizational Buying: A Contingency ApproachJournal of Marketing53198950–65
MichellP.Where Advertising Decisions are Really MadeEuropean Journal of Marketing719885–18
40.
MitchellV.W.Using Industrial Key Informants; Some GuidelinesJournal of the Marketing Research Society361994139–144
41.
MorrisM.H.FullerD.A.Pricing an Industrial ServiceIndustrial Marketing Management181989139–146
42.
NaumannE.LincolnD.J.McWilliamsR.D.The Purchase of Components: Functional Areas of InfluenceIndustrial Marketing Management131984113–122
43.
NeterJ.WassermanW.KutnerM.H.Applied Linear Statistical Models: Regression, Analysis of Variance, and Experimental Designs3rd ed.1990Richard D. Irwin Inc.USA
44.
NunnallyJ.C.Psychometric Theory1967Mc Graw HillNew York
45.
NunnallyJ.C.Psychometric Theory2nd edition1978Mc Graw HillNew York
46.
PatchenM.The Locus and Basis of Influence on Organizational DecisionsOrganizational Behaviour and Human Performance111974195–221
47.
PerraultW.D.MilesR.H.Influence Strategy Mixes in Complex OrganisationsBehavioural Sciences23197886–98
48.
PettigrewA.M.Information Control as a Power ResourceSociology61972187–204
49.
RavenB.H.Social Influence and PowerSteinerI.D.FishbeinM.Current Studies in Social Psychology1965HoltNew York371–382
50.
SalancickG.R.PfefferJ.KellyJ.P.A Contingency Model of Influence in Organizational Decision MakingPacific Sociological Review211978239–255
51.
ShoebridgeN.Advertisers Spend Again, But They Want ChangeBusiness Review Weekly12199364–69February
52.
ShoebridgeN.Ad Industry Feels Breath of RecoveryBusiness Review Weekly27199489–90June
53.
SilkA.J.KilwaniM.V.Measuring Influence in Organisational Purchase DecisionsJournal of Marketing Research191982165–181
54.
SimonA.Principles of Good Management Practice, as Perceived by Chief Executive Officers of Advertising AgenciesMooresK.RyderP.Regaining the Competitive Edge: Challenges for the 90s, 31991Bond UniversityGold Coast
55.
SpectorP.E.Summated Rating Scale Construction: An Introduction1992Sage PublicationsCalifornia
56.
SpekmanR.E.Influence and Information: An Exploratory Investigation of the Boundary Role Person's Basis of PowerAcademy of Management Journal221979104–117
57.
StockJ.R.ZinszerP.H.The Industrial Purchase Decision for Professional ServicesJournal of Business Research1519871–16
58.
TedeschiJ.T.BonomaT.Power and Influence: An IntroductionTedeschiJ.T.(1972) The Social Influence Processes1972Aldine AthertonChicago1–49
59.
ThomasR.J.Correlates of Interpersonal Purchase Influence in OrganizationsJournal of Consumer Research91982171–182
60.
ThomasR.J.Bases of Power in Organisational Buying DecisionsIndustrial Marketing Management131984209–217
61.
ThomasR.J.Causal vs. Attributional Measurement of Interpersonal Purchase Influence in OrganisationsInternational Journal of Research in Marketing61989145–157
62.
WillemsenE.W.Understanding Statistical Reasoning1974W.H. Freeman and CompanySan Fransisco
63.
WilsonA.The Marketing of Professional Services1972McGraw HillLondon
64.
WindY.A Reward-balance Model of Buying Behaviour in OrganizationsFiskGeorgeNew Essays in Marketing Theory1971Allyn and BaconBoston
65.
YuklG.TraceyJ.B.Consequences of Influence Tactics Used with Subordinates, Peers, and the BossJournal of Applied Psychology771992525–535
66.
ZwickW.R.VelicerW.F.Comparison of Five Rules for Determining the Number of Components to RetainPsychological Bulletin991986432–442
