A three-tier model representing the impact of internet use and other environmental and relationship-specific factors on a sales agent’s fear of disintermediation due to the internet medium

Much has been written in both the popular and academic literatures about the impact of the Internet on the professional salesperson. However, relatively little attention has been devoted to the impact of the Internet medium on the independent sales agent as a channel intermediary. To address this issue, the current study developed and tested a conceptual framework which posits relationships between nine component constructs (i.e., assortment complementarity, product/market idiosyncracy, agent’s Internet utilization, relationship-specific adaptation by the manufacturer, agent’s role salience, information exchange, awareness of disintermediation, perceived satisfaction, and perceived threat of disintermediation). Utilizing information gathered from a national sample of independent sales agents, the study presents the results of confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis and suggests avenues for future research.