A study compares the effectiveness drivers from an Eastern country (China) and a Western country (Australia). To determine whether the drivers are different or similar between countries, a study of direct selling in China by Luk, Fullgrabe, and Yi (1996) is used as a benchmark. The study is replicated in Australia, with a few minor adaptations and extensions, and the effectiveness drivers in the 2 countries are compared. The study concludes that in each country, both product elements and relationship elements affect direct selling effectiveness, but in relative terms, relationship elements are relatively more important in China. In China, the elements of relationship marketing are more coherent and form a holistic configuration known as guanxi. In Australia, there are several separate dimensions of direct selling relationship marketing. Cultural differences seem to be the main reason for this contrast between the samples from the 2 countries.
Keywords: Comparative Analysis, Direct Selling, Marketing, Statistical Analysis, Studies