Hopping deterrence - Does it hinder or augment the kam performance

In contemporary businesses, the adoption of key account management [KAM] programs by B2B firms for managing their strategically important customers is at its peak. The KAM relationships are long term mutually beneficial strategic business associations, which bestow competitive edge for both supplier firm and its key customer(s). “Hopping Deterrence” which here is referred as, “Switching Costs” encapsulate emotional, physical and financial costs that cause hurdles for customers while changing the supplier firms. This empirical work tries to answer the question - “Is customer switching costs advantageous or dis-advantageous for key customers as well as supplier firms?”. This study also tries to determine the antecedents of switching costs which enable the KAM managers to sustain and derive positive outcomes out of relationships with key customers.