AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE PERFORMANCE-MEASUREMENT OF POWER DEPENDENCYIN MARKETING CHANNELS

This research addresses the question raised by previous research (Fraz ier, 1983) as to whether role performance measures of dependency can a ccount for the ''availability of alternatives'' dimension of dependenc y identified by Emerson (1962). Specifically, the research tests the h ypothesis that role performance measures of power/dependence adequatel y account for the availability of alternatives dimension of dependency . In addition, the hypothesis that weighted rather than unweighted rol e performance measures should be utilized is tested. The data to test the hypotheses were collected from a mail survey of dealers in a distr ibution network for fluid power products. The mailing to 247 dealers r esulted in 117 usable questionnaires for a response rate of 47%. The r esult of the hypotheses tests indicate that: (1) role performance meas ures of power/dependence do adequately account for the availability of alternatives dimension, and (2) weighted role performance measures ar e preferable to unweighted measures.