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Economic sociology and the ARA interaction model

Matevz Raskovic (Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.)

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

ISSN: 0885-8624

Article publication date: 1 June 2015

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply an economic sociology perspective to the activity–resource–actor (ARA) interaction model for business relationships. Interaction has been chosen as a conceptual domain where economic sociology has a particularly high potential to advance business-to-business (B2B) marketing in terms of its future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a structured account of economic sociology through the description of eight key economic sociology concepts and discussion of the structuration theory. This is followed by an overview of the usage of the eight key economic sociology concepts in current B2B marketing research, and concludes with outlining eight specific future research directions which guide future research on interaction in business relationships.

Findings

Eight economic sociology concepts are identified: embeddedness, networks, institutions, power, social capital, identity, social structures and cognition. An overview of the application of these constructs within the B2B marketing literature shows how most of them are used as metaphors with a gap in understanding their economic sociology background.

Research limitations/implications

Future research directions are described individually, do not include potential interaction effects and are developed within the ARA interaction model framework. Given the conceptual nature of the paper, it does not provide any empirical data and illustrations related to any of the eight key economic sociology concepts.

Originality/value

The paper answers a call for a wider integration of economic sociology into the B2B marketing literature. It provides a systematic eight-concept economic sociology framework to be used by B2B marketing theorists and researchers. The paper finishes with eight concrete future research directions through which an economic sociology perspective can help advance B2B marketing theory and business relationship management practice. A brief discussion of managerial implications is also provided at the end.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The work on this paper was made possible by a six-month graduate visiting fellowship at Harvard University, FAS Sociology, for which the author would especially like to thank Professor Peter V. Marsden (Harvard University, FAS Sociology) and Professor Anuška Ferligoj (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences). The research on this paper was further facilitated during a research visit at Shanghai University of International Business & Economics in China as a visiting scholar. The author would also like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on how to improve this paper.

Citation

Raskovic, M. (2015), "Economic sociology and the ARA interaction model", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 472-485. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-09-2011-0123

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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