Price versus service satisfaction: the role of direct and indirect leasing in the B2B sector

This study examines how direct versus indirect leasing influences business tenants’ satisfaction and willingness to renew the lease in the business-to-business (B2B) real estate sector. Using survey data from 303 small and medium business tenants in Shenzhen, China, we find that direct leasing significantly enhances tenants’ price satisfaction, while indirect leasing improves their service satisfaction. In general, indirect leasing leads to lower overall satisfaction, reduced willingness to renew, and less likelihood to recommend. The influence of leasing methods on overall satisfaction, renewal, and recommendation likelihood is moderated by firm characteristics: high-productivity firms (measured by sales per employee) and larger firms (measured by employee size) experience reduced negative effects from the higher costs associated with indirect leasing. This study contributes to B2B marketing and channel governance research by clarifying how leasing governance structures shape multidimensional tenant value beyond rent-level considerations and offers practical implications for landlords and intermediaries to design segment-specific leasing and service bundles in emerging markets.