Conceptually confused, but on a field level? A method for conceptual analysis and its application

This article develops and applies a conceptual analysis method (CAM). The CAM is a critical reflection on multiple definitions and descriptions of concepts and terms all used to refer to a phenomenon or the experiences of it. The method particularly helps researchers working in emerging research fields to discover any conceptual confusion and elucidate multiple terms and concepts. We demonstrate the utility of the CAM by discovering conceptual confusion on an example field: business relationship uncoupling, and elucidating its terms and concepts. This article adds to the discussion on the importance of conscious conceptual language for theory development, on the level of a research field.

[1]  Anu Helkkula,et al.  Characterising the concept of service experience , 2011 .

[2]  P. F. Anderson.  On Method in Consumer Research: A Critical Relativist Perspective , 1986 .

[3]  M. Eisend,et al.  Buyers’ perceived switching costs and switching: a meta-analytic assessment of their antecedents , 2014 .

[4]  J. Reardon,et al.  Survival and dissolution of exporter relationships with importers: A longitudinal analysis , 2010 .

[5]  M. Bevir,et al.  Concept Formation in Political Science: An Anti-Naturalist Critique of Qualitative Methodology , 2008, Perspectives on Politics.

[6]  David Collier,et al.  Conceptual “Stretching” Revisited: Adapting Categories in Comparative Analysis , 1993, American Political Science Review.

[7]  R. Piekkari,et al.  Legitimizing Diverse Uses for Qualitative Research: A Rhetorical Analysis of Two Management Journals , 2013 .

[8]  Terje I. Vaaland.  When Conflict Communication Threatens the Business Relationship: Lessons from the “Balder” Story , 2006 .

[9]  W. G. Astley,et al.  Administrative Science as Socially Constructed Truth. , 1985 .

[10]  R. Bagozzi.  Reflections on relationship marketing in consumer markets , 1995 .

[11]  M. Mortensen,et al.  Understanding attractiveness in business relationships — A complete literature review , 2012 .

[12]  Kurt Weyland.  Clarifying a contested concept: Populism in the study of Latin American politics , 2001 .

[13]  Mark Thompson,et al.  Ontological Shift or Ontological Drift? Reality Claims, Epistemological Frameworks, and Theory Generation in Organization Studies , 2011 .

[14]  Ann Taket,et al.  Doing Critical Management Research , 2001, J. Oper. Res. Soc..

[15]  Michelle Rogan.  Executive Departures Without Client Losses: The Role of Multiplex Ties in Exchange Partner Retention , 2014 .

[16]  W. Johnston,et al.  Customer response to dissatisfaction: A synthesis of literature and conceptual framework , 2011 .

[17]  R. Ping,et al.  Unexplored antecedents of exiting in a marketing channel , 1999 .

[18]  L. Harris,et al.  Maintaining Relationships: A Study of the Legal Industry , 2000 .

[19]  R. Ping.  Some uninvestigated antecedents of retailer exit intention , 1995 .

[20]  Aino Halinen,et al.  A process theory of relationship ending , 2002 .

[21]  Harry J. Sapienza,et al.  The Role of Relational Trust in Bank–Small Firm Relationships , 2004 .

[22]  Vikas Mittal,et al.  How Commitment Influences the Termination of B2B Exchange Relationships , 2009 .

[23]  K. Abendroth.  Marketing Theory Evolution And Evaluation , 2016 .

[24]  F. Berenskoetter.  Approaches to Concept Analysis , 2017 .

[25]  D. Collier,et al.  Concepts and Method in Social Science: The Tradition of Giovanni Sartori (Introduction) , 2009 .

[26]  Paolo Leon.  The Economic Institutions of Capitalism , 1986, The Antitrust Bulletin.

[27]  Susan Freeman,et al.  The influence of national culture on dissolution communication strategies in Western versus Asian business relationships: a theoretical model , 2004 .

[28]  Andrew D. Pressey,et al.  Buyer‐supplier relationship dissolution: the Chinese context , 2007 .

[29]  Kimberly A. Neuendorf,et al.  The Content Analysis Guidebook , 2001 .

[30]  Bent Petersen,et al.  Creating Meaningful Switching Options in International Operations , 2000 .

[31]  Peter J. LaPlaca,et al.  INDUSTRIAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT , 2011 .

[32]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  The dangers of poor construct conceptualization , 2003 .

[33]  R. Bagozzi.  A Prospectus for Theory Construction in Marketing , 1984 .

[34]  D. MacInnis,et al.  A Framework for Conceptual Contributions in Marketing , 2011, How to Get Published in the Best Marketing Journals.

[35]  Michael A. Mayo,et al.  Salesperson response to loss of a major account: A qualitative analysis , 1997 .

[36]  Guy M. Goodwin,et al.  Introduction to Systematic Reviews , 2004, Journal of psychopharmacology.

[37]  Thomas Ritter,et al.  Organizational relationship termination competence: A conceptualization and an empirical test , 2011 .

[38]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  Analyzing the Past to Prepare for the Future: Writing a Literature Review , 2002, MIS Q..

[39]  Kevin E. Voss,et al.  A proposed procedure for construct definition in marketing , 2013 .

[40]  David Collier,et al.  DEMOCRACY AND DICHOTOMIES: A Pragmatic Approach to Choices about Concepts , 1999 .

[41]  R. Deshpandé,et al.  Organizational Culture and Marketing: Defining the Research Agenda , 1989 .

[42]  Andreas M. Kaplan,et al.  Unprofitable customers and their management , 2009 .

[43]  R. Bartels.  Marketing theory and metatheory , 1971 .

[44]  R. Ping.  The effects of satisfaction and structural constraints on retailer exiting, voice, loyalty, opportunism, and neglect , 1993 .

[45]  Petri Suomala,et al.  Applying SPAT for understanding B‐to‐B supplier switching processes , 2013 .

[46]  S. Helm,et al.  Suppliers' willingness to end unprofitable customer relationships: An exploratory investigation in the German mechanical engineering sector , 2006 .

[47]  N. Venkatraman,et al.  Contingency Perspectives of Organizational Strategy: A Critical Review of the Empirical Research , 1985 .

[48]  John R. Rossiter,et al.  Scientific progress in measurement theory? , 2013 .

[49]  Ian Wilkinson,et al.  The principle of the conservation of business relationship energy: or many kinds of new beginnings , 2002 .

[50]  Margaret K. Hogg,et al.  An empirical investigation of relationship development in professional business services , 2009 .

[51]  M. Prince,et al.  Examining the Longevity of New Agency Accounts: A Comparative Study of U.S. and U.K. Advertising Experiences , 1999 .

[52]  E. Sivadas,et al.  Dissolution intention in channel relationships: An examination of contributing factors , 2012 .

[53]  Jackie MacDonald,et al.  Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review , 2014 .

[54]  S. Duck,et al.  Understanding personal relationships : an interdisciplinary approach , 1985 .

[55]  D. Whetten.  What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution , 1989 .

[56]  Catherine Welch,et al.  Using Case Research to Reconstruct Concepts , 2016 .

[57]  Aino Halinen,et al.  Research on Ending Exchange Relationships: A Categorization, Assessment and Outlook , 2002 .

[58]  Simona Spedale,et al.  Preservation and Dissolution of the Target Firm's Embedded Ties in Acquisitions , 2006 .

[59]  Peter M. Banting,et al.  Dissolution of a relationship: The salesforce perception , 1995 .

[60]  J. Broschak,et al.  Managers' Mobility and Market Interface: The Effect of Managers' Career Mobility on the Dissolution of Market Ties , 2004 .

[61]  J. Mackie,et al.  The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioural Science , 1965 .

[62]  William H. Starbuck,et al.  The production of knowledge : the challenge of social science research , 2006 .

[63]  R. Ping,et al.  Does satisfaction moderate the association between alternative attractiveness and exit intention in a marketing channel? , 1994 .

[64]  R. Kenneth Teas,et al.  The Realms of Scientific Meaning Framework for Constructing Theoretically Meaningful Nominal Definitions of Marketing Concepts , 1997 .

[65]  Jonathan D. Hibbard,et al.  Examining the Impact of Destructive Acts in Marketing Channel Relationships , 2001 .

[66]  B. Montgomery.  Quality communication in personal relationships. , 1988 .

[67]  Barbara Stern.  What doesbrand mean? historical-analysis method and construct definition , 2006 .

[68]  E. Brink,et al.  Constructing grounded theory : A practical guide through qualitative analysis , 2006 .

[69]  William H. Mobley,et al.  Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover. , 1977 .

[70]  Y. S. Bermiss,et al.  Loyal to Whom? The Effect of Relational Embeddedness and Managers’ Mobility on Market Tie Dissolution* , 2016 .

[71]  R. Suddaby.  Editor's Comments: Construct Clarity in Theories of Management and Organization , 2010 .

[72]  J. Gerring.  Social Science Methodology: A Unified Framework , 2011 .

[73]  H. Håkansson,et al.  Developing relationships in business networks , 1995 .

[74]  Deborah E. Rosen,et al.  Marketing Relationship Management: Antecedents to Survival and Dissolution , 2007 .

[75]  Virpi Havila.  When does an International Business Relationship Become Non-Existent? , 1996 .

[76]  Allen M. Weiss,et al.  Vendor Consideration and Switching Behavior for Buyers in High-Technology Markets , 1995 .

[77]  M. Yadav.  The Decline of Conceptual Articles and Implications for Knowledge Development , 2010 .

[78]  D. Griffith,et al.  The Litigated Dissolution of International Distribution Relationships: A Process Framework and Propositions , 2006 .

[79]  Jan B. Heide,et al.  Choice of Supplier in Embedded Markets: Relationship and Marketing Program Effects , 2001 .

[80]  George M. Zinkhan,et al.  Enhancing marketing theory in academic research , 2006 .

[81]  Thomas Ritter,et al.  Antecedents and consequences of sales representatives' relationship termination competence , 2013 .

[82]  J. Friedrichs,et al.  On Acting and Knowing: How Pragmatism Can Advance International Relations Research and Methodology , 2009, International Organization.

[83]  A. M. Ulvnes,et al.  If the Supplier's Human Capital Walks Away, Where Would the Customer Go? , 2011 .

[84]  J. P. Peter.  Construct Validity: A Review of Basic Issues and Marketing Practices , 1981 .

[85]  Jacob Jacoby,et al.  Consumer Research: How valid and useful are all our consumer behavior research findings? , 1978 .

[86]  Robert R. Faulkner,et al.  Hazards of the Market: The Continuity and Dissolution of Interorganizational Market Relationships , 1998 .

[87]  A. Schreiner.  Triadic analysis of business relationship’s ending: a case study of a dyad and a third actor , 2015 .

[88]  D. Tranfield,et al.  Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence-Informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic Review , 2003 .

[89]  Wesley J. Johnston,et al.  Relationship equity and switching behavior in the adoption of new telecommunication services , 2006 .

[90]  J. Tähtinen,et al.  The Death Of Business Triads: The Dissolution Process Of A Net Of Companies , 1997 .

[91]  F. Dwyer,et al.  Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships , 1987 .

[92]  A. Hirschman,et al.  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States , 1971 .

[93]  B. Uzzi,et al.  The Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness for the Economic Performance of Organizations: The Network Effect , 1996 .

[94]  Albert O. Hirschman,et al.  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty , 1970 .

[95]  D. Crawford.  Introduction , 2008, CACM.

[96]  R. Järvinen,et al.  Cut-off Process in Reinsurance Relationships , 2002 .

[97]  O. Holsti.  Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities , 1969 .

[98]  Daniel G. Bachrach,et al.  The influence of management journals in the 1980s and 1990s , 2005 .

[99]  Roy Suddaby,et al.  Construct Clarity in Theories of Management and Organization , 2010 .

[100]  A. Fearne,et al.  The role of inter‐personal relationships in the dissolution of business relationships , 2009 .

[101]  G. Lenski.  RETHINKING MACROSOCIOLOGICAL THEORY , 1988 .

[102]  Lars-Gunnar Mattsson,et al.  Discovering market networks , 2006 .

[103]  Ian Wilkinson,et al.  Towards an empirically based taxonomy of buyer–seller relations in business markets , 2010 .