What makes local retailers commit to multinational brands: Evidence from multinational brand-retailer dyads in emerging markets

This study advances our understanding of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) can foster local retailer commitment in emerging markets. Using a dyadic dataset of 153 brand-retailer pairs in China's B2B consumer electronics sector, we tested a conceptual framework examining how relationship strength, mutual knowledge acquisition, and knowledge asymmetries affect retailers' commitment to MNE brands. The findings confirm that strong brand-retailer relationships, brand knowledge acquired by retailers, and retailer knowledge acquired by brands all significantly enhance retailer commitment. Furthermore, the results support the moderating role of mutual knowledge exchange and confirm that knowledge asymmetries significantly shape commitment levels: a brand's knowledge advantage increases retailer commitment, while a retailer's knowledge advantage reduces it. This study thus enriches the B2B and international marketing literatures by showing that managing retailer commitment in emerging markets is not just about building strong relationships, but about strategically leveraging and aligning knowledge resources, both symmetrically and asymmetrically, within interdependent channel structures.