The use and abuse of French and Raven in the channels literature

Abstract

This paper aims to stimulate reflection upon our understanding of power in marketing channels through a critical review of power-base research centred on the use of French and Raven (1959). Through a review of seminal articles that have shaped the field and consideration of enduring problems in power-base usage, the paper argues that the numerous studies of this topic have not produced a coherent body of either empirical or theoretical knowledge. In particular, the empirical studies have produced results, some of which are contrary to theoretical predictions, others which contradict previous findings, and an increasing number which indicate that results are significantly affected by the cultural context within which a study is conducted. A detailed reading of French and Raven’s (1959) paper shows it to be less rigorous than would be expected of such a frequently cited and influential paper, but also that its application to organisational studies of power is questionable. This paper provides the first critique of this well-established research field and argues that the extensive use of French and Raven has been detrimental in limiting the conceptualisation of power that informs our understanding of the phenomenon.

Keywords:

• power
• power bases
• marketing channels
• inter-organisational power
• social power

Notes

1. ¹In one instance, where reference is made to a book of readings (Swanson, Newcomb, & Hartley, 1952), no specific reading is nominated.

2. ²For example, the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009.

3. ³When investigating allegations of supermarkets’ aggressive behaviour towards their suppliers, the UK Competition Commission (2000) noted that ‘Most parties were unwilling to be named or to name the main party that was the subject of the allegation. There appeared to us to be a climate of apprehension among many suppliers in their relationships with the main parties’ (p. 6).

4. ⁴Podsakoff and Schriesheim (1985) and Schriesheim et al. (1991) identified substantial problems in empirical studies of social power within organisations when using French and Raven’s power bases, but their studies are seldom referred to by marketing scholars.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keith Blois

Keith Blois is an emeritus fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and a visiting professor at Lancaster University, UK. He has published in the fields of B2B marketing, marketing of services, and industrial economics in journals including Strategic Management Journal, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Journal of Management Studies. He is the editor of The Oxford Textbook of Marketing.

Gillian C. Hopkinson

Gillian Hopkinson is a senior lecturer at Lancaster University, UK, where she teaches in the area of marketing channels. She has published in fields related to power and marketing channels in journals including Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Management Studies, European Journal of Marketing, and International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management.