Explorations of National Culture and Word-of Mouth Referral Behavior in the Purchase of Industrial Services in the United States and Japan

Abstract

In this study, the authors examine how national culture affects referral behavior for industrial services such as advertising, banking, and accounting. The authors collected data using interviews with managers of small- and medium sized companies in the United States and Japan. The results show that national culture has a strong effect on the number of referral sources consulted and that Japanese companies use more than comparable American companies do. Don't laugh, but all the really important (business) ser- vices I have, I found in the Yellow Pages (American man- ager of a small manufacturing company in the United States). When starting a new business, your bank means every- thing. Just about all my service vendors came from talking with my bank (Japanese owner of a cosmetics manufacturer in Tokyo).

Original Publication Citation

Money, R. Bruce, Mary C. Gilly, and John L. Graham (1998), “Explorations of National Culture and Word-of-Mouth Referral Behavior in the Purchase of Industrial Services in the U.S. and Japan,” Journal of Marketing, 62 (October), 76-87.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1998

Publisher

Journal of Marketing

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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