The Role of Perceived Relational Support in Entrepreneur–Customer Dyads

Abstract

Drawing from social exchange theory and the marketing literature, we posit that entrepreneurs’ commitment to and satisfaction with a customer depends on the extent to which they believe the customer is willing to provide strong support to entrepreneurs in their role as suppliers. We tested the hypotheses among 217 entrepreneurs in a Western European country and found that entrepreneurs’ perceptions of relational support relate positively to their commitment to and satisfaction with the customer. In turn, the reliability and quality of the exchanges that took place between entrepreneurs and the customer affected their perceptions of relational support, as well as their attitudes through perceived relational support. We thus identify a key mechanism that explains relationship outcomes in entrepreneur–customer dyads. We discuss the implications and limitations of our findings and provide directions for further research.