Role of Prestige Power in a Distribution Channel: An Empirical Investigation in a High Power Distance Context

Abstract

Distribution channel research has been attracting increasing attention among practitioners and researchers during the last two decades (Amato and Amato 2009; Korneliussen and Gronhaug 2003). Through the review of scholarly contributions in the distribution channel literature, we recognized that power is important phenomena for understanding distribution channel relationship. In fact, multiple researchers attempt to study the distribution channel relationship based on various sources of power used by a source firm of the distribution channel (Garrett et al. 2006; Leung et al. 2005). Sources of power, therefore, represent an important point in the understanding of distribution channel relationship. After recognizing the importance of sources of power in distribution channels, researchers have devoted considerable effort in understanding sources of power and their use within distribution channels (Garrett et al. 2006; Leung et al. 2005). This study was undertaken within a high power distance country. This setting is favourable for the investigation of prestige as a new source of power and a new classification of dependence as economic dependence and social dependence. The theoretical section of this study included prestige power as independent variables and a dependent variable (i.e., performance). An empirical study was conducted using ornamental fish farmers in Sri Lanka. To*do the survey, the structured questionnaire was used. To analyze the collected data, this study used partial least squares path modelling (PLS). The reliable and valid measurement model permits an empirical evaluation of the hypotheses in the structural path model. The tests of ten hypotheses in the structural model are statistically significant and all effects are in the expected direction .The present study contributes to the literature on power sources and extends research on power-dependence relations and performance of channel members by introducing a new power source named prestige power into French and Raven’s (1959) typology including a measurement scale for prestige power.