RT Journal Article
T1 The Reference Group as Antecedent of Gray Market Participation: An Empirical Analysis.
A1 Gimeno-Arias, Fernando
A1 Santos Jaén, José Manuel
A1 León-Gómez, Ana María
K1 Canales de distribución (Comercio)
K1 Marketing
AB PurposeThe objective of this research is to analyze the motivation of a distributor belonging to an official marketing channel to participate in the gray market. We explore this motivation not as an opportunistic behavior but as a strategic decision aligned with the reference group to which it belongs and the homogenization or isomorphism of strategic decisions within the group.Methodology/ApproachBased on a survey of a sample of Spanish official distributors of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and an empirical study using PLS-SEM, found evidence that the imitation effect conditions strategic decisions and can be graduated according to the hierarchical position occupied or legitimacy within the reference group.FindingsThe hypothesized model was supported by the data. This indicates that the reference group influences the agents that make it up and determines the actions expected of its members, offering a tool to the manufacturer or brand owner to manage the official distribution channel.Originality/ValueThe investigation of the effect of the reference group on the behavior of the official distributor offers an alternative to the classical explanation of its participation in the gray market, which has not been addressed by the academic literature so far, and which has traditionally been explained by the individual opportunism of the agents.Practical implicationsThe main managerial implication is to provide a monitoring element to the official distribution channel leader, such as influencing the behaviors of the reference group to efficiently manage the marketing channel.
PB Taylor & Francis
YR 2023
FD 2023-02-21
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/31284
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/31284
LA eng
NO Gimeno-Arias, F., Santos-Jaén, J. M., & León-Gomez, A. (2023). The Reference Group as Antecedent of Gray Market Participation: An Empirical Analysis. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 30(1), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2023.2180697
NO Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://beta.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/42044
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 20 ene 2026