The impact of perceived innovativeness on maintaining a buyer-seller relationship in health care markets: A cross-cultural study

This article focuses on the importance of perceived innovativeness, as well as corporate reputation, for the buyer-seller relationship and, therefore, enhances previous studies of customer satisfaction and loyalty. A conceptual model is extended within the commitment-trust framework. A set of research propositions is evaluated using data from three Western markets [Finland, Germany, and Spain] and the Russian transition economy. Our study enlarges existing models on service quality expectations and customer satisfaction in business-to-business [B2B] marketing, and challenges the importance of innovativeness and corporate reputation. We find that expectations in products and services impact the perceived value for money in Russia and Germany only. The perceived innovativeness of the vendors turns out to be relevant in three out of four cultures. Among our study's managerial implications is that the values in exchange are clearly related to the cultural values of the customers. Hence, not only the concept of utility, but also the concepts of value in use and values in exchange need cultural embedded marketing interpretations. Also, we derive a set of rules of thumb to guide practitioners in improving their business.