Managing culturally diverse buyer-seller relationships: The role of intercultural disposition and adaptive selling in developing intercultural communication competence

Given the increase in cultural diversity within marketing organizations as well as within current and potential customer bases, possessing the appropr iate communication skills becomes crucial to success in managing culturally diverse relationships. Although marketing researchers have recognized the importance of adaptive selling behavior for successful buyer-seller relatio nships, the exploration of the intercultural aspects of these relationships has only recently begun. This article examines how adaptive selling behavi ors and intercultural dispositions of marketing executives contribute to th eir perceived intercultural communication competence. Results show that in addition to being adaptive, the intercultural disposition of a marketer is of key importance in developing intercultural communication competence. The oretical and practical implications for incorporating intercultural communi cation into the development of successful buyer-seller relationships are di scussed.