本論文藉由檢視相關理論和市場行銷學文獻，發展出一套理論模式，提供人們了解競爭激烈的公對公客戶關係之過程與結果。尤其是，本論文從社會交換學角度探討影響客戶即使不滿意卻仍繼續維持目前關係的可能因素。藉由本討論，確認這些理論中的共同特徵和明顯差異的部份，並結合決定性因素與可變結果，說明造成客戶管理不滿意業務關係的因素，藉由提出中介變數，即依賴性和利益性承諾的影響，導出一個概念。證明這種假設關係暗示特定投資與依賴性或利益性承諾是相關的，而這將持續影響客戶成果。

This paper reviews the relevant theories and marketing literature to develop a
theoretical foundation for understanding the process and outcome of struggling business-to-
business (B2B) customer relationships. Specifically, the paper provides a social exchange
perspective of the factors that influence the likelihood of dissatisfied customers remaining
in a present relationship by serving as deterrents to discontinuing the relationship. In doing
so, the paper identifies the common features of, noteworthy differences among, and gaps in
these theories. The paper also connects determinant factors to an outcome variable in order
to explain what drives a customer in managing an unsatisfying business relationship, and
therefore makes a conceptual contribution by proposing the effect of mediating variables,
namely dependence and calculative commitment. Support for the hypothesised
relationships would imply that specific investments are related to dependence or calculative
commitment, which continues to play a role in generating customer outcomes.