Abstract
Within the marketing channels literature a few scholars have investigated the antecedents and consequences of acts, perceived by the target, to be harmful in nature. Hibbard, Kumar, and Stern (2001) investigated the impact of destructive acts in channel relationships, defining them as actions that are perceived by the aggrieved channel member as having a significant negative impact on the viability or functioning of the affected firm. However, there is no mention of abuse. The purpose of this paper is to conceptually demarcate punitive actions from destructive actions in a marketing channels context, as well as introduce and define abuse as a construct worthy of investigation by channels of distribution researchers. Relational exchange implies that commercial exchange forms a continuum from purely discreet transactions to relational exchange. It is believed that the study of personality characteristics such as power need, self-esteem, ego, ethical sensitivity, and risk taking, among others may provide insight on channel member abuse performed by boundary spanning personnel representing their respective firms.