A simulation of business-to-business decision making in a relationship marketing context

The dynamic and interactive SUGARSCAPE simulation is adapted to represent agent-based relationship marketing models in business-to-business exchanges. Computer-generated selling agents operate in complex environments using relationship marketing approaches that may or may not be uniformly distributed inside their organizations. The intricate nature of these models also allows for diverse combinations of buyer traits that impact their decisions as well as seller profitability. These features include individual and firm exchange experiences, the ability to identify and to become loyal to sellers, and the sharing of information within and among buyer firms. Relationship marketing is played out or operationalized based on pricing tactics that show differences between asking prices and post-exchange value. Relationship marketing as a comprehensive business strategy has achieved prominence among academics and practitioners (Noble & Phillips, 2004). Approaches to RM focus on both tactical and strategic decisions to create, maintain, or enhance exchange activities among The underlying premise is that RM leads to the establishment of successful and mutually-rewarding associations among parties that persist over the longer time horizon (Ravald & Gronroos, 1996). While some scholars disagree, the belief that loyalty garnered by relationship marketing results in a more profitable and stable customer base persists in the research literature (see Palmatier, Scheer, & Steenkamp, 2007). Of course, not all buyer–seller relationships are transacted according to RM terms, revealing a dynamic tension between individual egoism that seeks to squeeze the most out of every exchange and cooperative altruism that tries to maximize benefits for the collective (see Ghosh & John, 1999). The former is more likely to slip into manipulative actions that treat people as a means to an end rather than as equal participants (Kavali, Tzokas, & Saren, 1999). Such misconduct may have a direct impact on relationship quality, reducing perceptions of trust and expectations of commitment (e.g., Jap & Anderson, 2003). Trust, which often leads to greater commitment in terms of interpersonal loyalty, is described as confidence in a partner's honesty, reliability, and Implicit to their discussions is post-transaction perceived value may be judged as fair or unfair by some exchange partners. As such value represents the relative weighting of what is given up compared to what is received, resulting in greater loyalty and positive word-of-mouth when the equation tips in favor of buyers (Addis & Holbrook, 2001). These ends notwithstanding, marketing's ultimate goals are to increase sales and profits. Without such positive conclusions, even the best of …