A Power Potential Approach to Middlemen Strategies in Social Marketing

Abstract

States that a key problem in the emerging area of social marketing that has not received adequate and empirical treatment is the building and management of middlemen relationships. Offers an approach to this problem based on social science concepts of power used in sales management and channel discussions in the private sector. Develops a conceptual framework and a specific procedure for its implementation. Provides a detailed practical example employing the power potential approach. Outlines four key advantages of the approach over its two major competitors, and gives a description of three other alternative research paradigms for comparison. Suggests that the power potential approach represents a significant advance in theory and practice in the area of middlemen relationships.