Abstract:Firms in many sectors of business cooperate in order to market generic features of their product. While much recent attention has been given to the management of strategic marketing alliances, less attention has been given to studying the management of relatively loose cooperative marketing associations where the existence of external benefits allows for the possibility of 'free-riders'. This paper reports on a study of the antecedents of effectiveness among a sample of UK cooperative tourism marketing associations. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used for testing a model of four antecedents of effectiveness: commitment, similarity, reciprocity and governance style. Using a LISREL model, the most significant influence on effectiveness was a formal governance style, followed by high levels of commitment from members and a diverse membership. The latter supported the resource dependency view that firms with differing strengths can achieve valuable symbiotic relationships.

　　Subjects:consumer cooperatives; marketing; generic products

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