Antecedents and benefits of preferred customer relations and the influence of corporate culture : a case study at Company X and three of its key suppliers

So far, limited research has focused on the phenomenon of preferred customer status in buyer-supplier relationships. In contrast to the common understanding, that suppliers compete against each other for customers, buying firms are eager to establish key relationships with its suppliers and compete against each other for preferential treatment. This case study further explores the antecedents and benefits of preferred customer status and the influence of corporate culture. For this purpose, one preferred buying firm and three of its key suppliers were interviewed. The findings contribute to this research area by confirming and extending antecedents and benefits of preferred customer status and by highlighting a positive influence of cultural similarity. Further, this case study was conducted at small and medium-sized enterprises in the Food Retail Industry and results remain limited in scope. Therefore, the case study calls for further exploration of the influence of corporate culture on preferred customer relations in different research settings.