Opening the Marketing Intermediaries Black Box: Exploring their roles in the customers' buying journey
customer purchase journey; touchpoints; customer experience; marketing intermediaries.
Although the customer purchase journey is a growing field of study, its focus on the customerignores the dynamics that characterize the influence of other relevant individuals or groups, such as marketing intermediaries. To contribute to advancement of the field, this thesis to explore the role of marketing intermediaries explores the roles and activities of marketing intermediaries in the buying journey and typifies them. Fifteen characteristics that define the main types of marketing intermediaries are identified, and it is found that the only common characteristic of the four marketing intermediaries is taste (style). Based on these findings, studies are proposed that aim to 1) empirically map the characteristics of marketing intermediaries; 2) identify stakeholders who interact with marketing intermediaries throughout the purchase journey; and 3) identify strategies and touchpoints developed by companies to serve marketing intermediaries at every stage of the customer journey