Competitive Marketing Behavior in Industrial Markets

The authors outline a conceptual framework for analyzing differences in competitive marketing behavior of businesses in established industrial markets. They explicitly distinguish between retaliatory and cooperative 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 behavior with respect to price and sales force expenditures. The authors specify different models explaining these dimensions of competitive marketing behavior at the strategic business unit level and test their hypotheses by estimating the various competitive behavior models using relevant 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 behavior in industrial markets.