 Buyer dependence in B2B relationships: The role of supplier investments, commitment form, and trustDaniel Padgett, Christopher D. Hopkins and Zac Williams Journal of Business Research, 2020, vol. 119, issue C, 13-24 Abstract: One of the main risks in B2B relationships is the potential for partners to switch to competitors. Decreasing the likelihood of partner switching can result from increasing the partner dependence. To date, there has been little research investigating the different mechanisms and antecedents of dependence in B2B relationships. To fill this important gap, we examine two components of dependence: relationship value dependence and switching cost dependence. Our results indicate different paths to dependence based on the form of commitment and level of trust in the partner. Dependence can be either the result of enhancement to the relationship through increased benefits of the relationship or the creation of latent switching costs the partner would expect if the relationship ended. Trust moderates the relationship between commitment and dependence but has a differential impact on dependence based on the form of commitment. We discuss implications for research and practice. Keywords: Switching cost dependence; Relationship specific adaptation; Affective commitment; Relationship trust; PLS (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:119:y:2020:i:c:p:13-24 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.019 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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