A new perspective on punishments and rewards in marketing channel relationships

How effective are punishments and rewards in influencing dealer performance in marketing channel relationships? Although often used in managerial practice, academic research on the relationship between punishment/reward and dealer performance has been scarce and demonstrates variable results. The aim of this dissertation is to resolve the indistinctness that currently surrounds academic research on the use of punishments and rewards in marketing channel relationships. The three studies in this dissertation advance current knowledge on this important topic. Results show that rewards and punishments are able to effectively increase dealer performance, when performance-contingent rewards are used, and when the broader network context, in which punishments are administered, is taken into account. These results have important management implications and several guidelines are suggested.