COMPETITIVE MARKETING BEHAVIOR IN INDUSTRIAL-MARKETS

The authors outline a conceptual framework for analyzing differences i n competitive marketing behavior of businesses in established industri al markets. They explicitly distinguish between retaliatory and cooper ative marketing behavior. The structural characteristics of the served markets and the competitive positions of businesses are postulated to affect the nature and likelihood of retaliatory and cooperative behav ior with respect to price and sales force expenditures. The authors sp ecify different models explaining these dimensions of competitive mark eting behavior at the strategic business unit level and test their hyp otheses by estimating the various competitive behavior models using re levant data obtained from the PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategies ) Program. The empirical results support several theoretical arguments and provide insights into the determinants of competitive marketing b ehavior in industrial markets.