Purchaser perceptions of early phase supplier relationships: The role of similarity and likeability

Duane M. Nagel, Larry Giunipero, Hyeyoon Jung, Jim Salas and Bryan Hochstein

Journal of Business Research, 2021, vol. 128, issue C, 174-186

Abstract: We investigate trust formation in the understudied area of early-phase relationship and its effects on the selection of purchaser-supplier governance. The theoretical framework underlying the research draws on purchaser/supplier relationships, swift/affective trust formation, social exchange theory, and transaction cost analysis to develop the hypotheses. This study is the first to provide insights into early phase relationships and demonstrate that purchaser-supplier similarity and supplier’s likeability are significantly related to purchaser trust in suppliers. In particular, similarity has a stronger positive relationship with trust than supplier likeability. The combined results of a field study and a scenario-based experiment offer strong evidence that suppliers’ similarity and likeability play a key role in forming early trust and governance selection.

Keywords: Relationship marketing; Buyer-seller relationships; Swift trust; Similarity; Likeability; Relational Governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:128:y:2021:i:c:p:174-186

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.026

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