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The Structure of Marketing Cooperatives

A Members Perspective

  • Chapter
Vertical Markets and Cooperative Hierarchies

Abstract

This paper examines marketing cooperatives’ (MCs’) structure from a members’ perspective. We support the notion that the utility that members derive from the attributes of MC’s structure enhances our insight in members’ commitment. Using a conjoint experimental design, we elicit the utility that producers attach to attributes of a MC. These attributes are related to the cooperative’s internal organizational structure and strategic behavior. The results of 120 producers of a Dutch horticulture cooperative show that the selected cooperative attributes are significant drivers of members’ utility. In particular, members attach high importance to strategic attributes and prefer a more individualized cooperative structure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Marketing & Consumer Behavior, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

    Nikos Kalogeras, Joost M.E. Pennings, Gert van Dijk & Ivo A. van der Lans

  2. Dept. of Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Illinois, USA

    Nikos Kalogeras & Joost M.E. Pennings

  3. The Netherlands Institute for Cooperative Entrepreneurship (NICE), Nyenrode University,The Netherlands Business School, Breukelen, The Netherlands

    Gert van Dijk

Authors
  1. Nikos Kalogeras
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  2. Joost M.E. Pennings
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  3. Gert van Dijk
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  4. Ivo A. van der Lans
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Kalogeras, N., Pennings, J.M., Dijk, G.v., van der Lans, I.A. (2007). The Structure of Marketing Cooperatives. In: Vertical Markets and Cooperative Hierarchies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5543-0_5

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