Business Marketing in China: Review and Prospects

Purpose: Given the growth in research on business marketing in China, there is an imperative need to provide a comprehensive understanding of business marketing issues in China. Thus the authors attempt to conduct a comprehensive review to obtain that understanding and to address the following questions: How much progress has been made in understanding business marketing issues in China, and how much progress has been made regarding theory development in this domain? Methodology/Approach: The review covers a total of 153 research articles from 23 key marketing and management academic journals from 1990 through 2009. The authors also propose a theoretical framework consisting of three theories to review the fragmented literature: a theory of Chinese business marketing; a theory of Chinese comparative business marketing; and a Chinese theory of business marketing. Findings: The review enhances our understanding of the theoretical development in the domain of business marketing in China. The review on studies using China as a research sample suggests that most research attempts to exemplify extant business marketing theories in the Chinese context. The review on studies using China as a comparison object shows that marketing is a relatively new phenomenon in China, and thus many business marketing activities in China are different due to the cultural, institutional, and economic situations. The review on studies using China as a unique object documents distinctive business marketing phenomena in China such as guanxi (personal connections) and xinyong (personal trust) and provides theoretical understanding of these phenomena. Originality/Value: The authors develop a new theoretical framework to review the literature: a theory of Chinese business marketing, a theory of Chinese comparative business marketing, and a Chinese theory of business marketing. The framework contributes to the literature by understanding different usages of a context in business marketing research and by suggesting possible theoretical development in this domain. The review identifies potential topics and theoretical development for future research in each of the three areas. The review also provides important managerial implications for practitioners by offering a comprehensive understanding of how business marketing practices are operated in China.