Competitive and Cooperative Behavior in Embedded Markets: Developing an Institutional Perspective on Bazaars

Rohit Varman and Janeen Arnold Costa

Journal of Retailing, 2009, vol. 85, issue 4, 453-467

Abstract: In an ethnographic study of a retail setting, we examine relationships among competitors. We find that competitors often emphasize various forms of cooperation, and we describe socio-economic behaviors that illustrate how cooperation transcends or mediates competition among retailers. Retailers selectively cooperate and compete for customers in ways that alter our understandings of concepts such as loyalty and market stability, and practices such as marketing communications and pricing. We highlight the significance of these institutional practices and the role they play in forming and maintaining community in a bazaar.

Keywords: Competition; Retailing; Cooperation; Institutional theory; Embeddedness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jouret:v:85:y:2009:i:4:p:453-467

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2009.04.006

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