You don't always get what you want, and you don't always want what you get: An examination of control-desire for control congruence in transactional relationships.

In this research we develop a framework to examine the drivers of customers' desire for control over the sales relationship, and consequences of fit between perceived and desired control. Data collected in a lagged field study of 144 retailer manager (customer)-salesperson dyads were modeled using hierarchical linear modeling and response surface modeling techniques. Results from our analysis reveal that salesperson expertise drives retailers' desire for control in these relationships.