Commitment and Trust in Cross-National Channel Relationships

Abstract

Cross-national channel relationships are becoming increasingly important, so it is time for research in the channels literature to continue beyond a focus of channel relationships within a single country or channel design for market entry. The author presents a model of commitment in cross-national manufacturer-distributor relationshipsthat extends the commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing by incorporating four constructs conceptualized to represent the influence of a firm's current and prospective partners on the focal relationship: resource transferability-to partner; resource transferabil-ity-from partner; resource particularity-adaptation and resource particularity-consumption. Data collected from 143 U.S. manufacturers, 106 Mexican manufacturers, and 97 Mexican distributors show that the model generalizes across this national boundary. In particular, a similar influence of mutuality on trust and trust on commitment was observed for both manufacturers and distributors. The influence of resource transferability, particularity on the relationship, was also observed. The findings provide strong support for extending the commitment-trust theory to aid the study and management of cross-national channel relationships.     

Trust and Commitment in Customer/Service-Provider Relationships:

This study highlights the importance of relationships in the marketing of services. Relationships constructs such as Trust, Affective Commitment, and Continuance Commitment are operationalized in a marketing context and used as dependent variables in an empirical study of differences in how males and females approach relationships with three types of service providers (primary care physicians, automobile mechanics, and hairstylists). The data shows that females seek more trust and commitment within the service provider/customer relationship than males. Also, consumers in general place more trust in and are more committed to their doctor and their hairstylist than to their mechanic.     

The Moderating Effects of Involvement on the Relationships Between Satisfaction,Trust and Commitment in e-Banking

Most prior research into customer loyalty emphasizes the effects of the dimensions of online satisfaction and trust. However, research into how customer involvement moderates this relationship model – in the online environment – has been less than conclusive. On the basis of a satisfaction–trust–commitment model, and given that involvement is a significant precondition to customer loyalty, this paper explores the interaction effects of customer involvement on the evaluation of e-banking services.Empirical results were collected from an online survey in electronic financial forums, Usenet and mailing lists. Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to estimate the parameters of the interaction effects model.The results support most of the hypotheses and, in particular, confirm the moderating role of customer involvement. The influence of online satisfaction on commitment was significantly stronger for highly involved users; conversely, the effect of satisfaction on trust was weaker. However, customer trust had a stronger effect on commitment for customers with high purchase involvement, and a weaker effect for highly ego-involved customers. The interaction role of customer involvement thus offers a more complete view of the satisfaction–trust–commitment model, providing an initial test of the efficacy of using involvement to understand online decisions. Implications for online marketing management and future research in this area are discussed.     

Timing in Accountability and Trust Relationships

In this study we examine (1) how a manager’s risk behavior is influenced by developing success (or failure) as an impending settling up deadline to report performance approaches, (2) how willingness to provide transparent accountability is negatively affected by perceived risk and eroding trust, and (3) how others interpret and respond to reduced transparency. As perceptions of high levels of risks suggest a lack of environmental control of a firm’s destiny in contemporary settings, we adopt a historical approach to examine these issues. In this respect we draw on primary sources found in library archives in Spain and Argentina. Our focal case refers to the contract signed and executed between the South Sea Company and Captain José de Salinas (1731–1735) to walk 408 Negroes from Buenos Aires to Potosí and sell them en route or at destination. Drawing on this evidence, we examine how bring about unethical conduct featured by increasingly risky business practices, and how eroding trust conditions lead to only summary record-keeping and delayed reporting. In turn, diminished accountability further undermined trust. Our findings have implications for further research in this area as well as for contemporary cases of accounting failures.     

Commitment and Trust as Drivers of Loyalty in Logistics Outsourcing Relationships: Cultural Differences Between the United States and Germany

This study examines differences in loyalty formation within logistics outsourcing relationships between Germany and the United States. A model of loyalty formation on the basis of commitment and trust is developed and differences between Germany and the United States are hypothesized. They are tested based on 795 logistics outsourcing relationships in the two countries using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that these relationships differ depending on cultural traits relating to trust and commitment. The findings are relevant for practitioners and academics as they paint a more globally informed picture of loyalty formation within logistics outsourcing relationships in which to base both managerial decisions and future research.     

逆向选择与物流服务承诺

虚拟物流市场中的逆向选择是客观存在的现象,企业该采取怎样的营销策略对此进行防范是本文研究的宗旨.本文构建了物流服务信号传递分析模型,认为量化的服务承诺是有效的信号显示,可以把物流企业划分为综合型、功能型、区域型及网络型四种不同类型,并相应各类企业服务承诺制定不同原则.     

品牌信任、顾客满意及关系承诺

基于消费者认知与情感层面,可从消费者与品牌的互动关系入手,将品牌信任划分为转移信任、经验信任两种类型。数据分析表明,对品牌信任的这种新划分存在于消费者与品牌的交互过程之中,不仅具有合理性,而且具有深远的理论意义。数据拟合分析结果表明,转移信任对顾客满意的直接作用非常明显,转移信任能够引起顾客满意,同时顾客满意对经验信任的作用也非常强,顾客满意能够导致经验信任。关系承诺与顾客满意度及经验信任之间存在因果关系,但也会受到其他因素影响,因此即使消费者对品牌产品满意或获得了经验上的信任,也不一定会长期使用或推荐某个品牌的产品。鉴于此,为更好地建立、发展并保持消费者与企业间的长期关系,改善品牌管理方面存在的不足,企业要适时调整营销战略与策略。一要重视消费者转移信任的建立,关注实质的产品质量与服务,关注顾客需求,为顾客解决消费过程中出现的问题,通过建立企业品牌信任,提高顾客满意度;二要培养具备专业知识的业务人员,为消费者提供准确而有价值的产品信息,赢得消费者信任,强化企业与消费者之间的关系,维持企业与顾客之间的长久关系;三要选择有效的途径进行品牌传播,举办吸引消费者参与的活动等,从建立品牌信任开始进行新产品、新品牌的市场开拓。     

服务承诺的设计与实施

精心设计和实施的服务承诺,将抽象的服务理念转化为明确的可衡量的指标,能够降低消费者的购买风险,并为企业加强质量管理、改进经营绩效、获得竞争优势提供有效途径。在服务承诺的设计中,需要选择承诺的类型和承诺的关键服务属性,测度承诺的成本和收益;在服务承诺的实施过程中,需要选择显性承诺和隐性承诺,对服务失误进行补救,防范消费者滥用风险。最后,还需要避免服务承诺中的几个误区。     

Effects of Dependence and Trust on Channel Satisfaction,Commitment and Cooperation

ABSTRACT

Although researchers in the area of channel behavior have examined issues of dependence and trust on satisfaction, commitment and cooperation independently, the joint effects of dependence and trust on the listed dependent variates have received little attention in the literature. This study seeks to fill that void via an experiment conducted in Singapore. Extending on the work of Andaleeb (1996), an experimental design to create treatment groups with differing levels of dependence and trust was used to establish the relationships between the dependent and independent constructs. Research results highlight the important mediating effect of trust on dependence in determining attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Specifically, all three dependent constructs were rated highly under conditions of high trust, regardless of the level of dependence, pointing to the overbearing influence of trust in shaping channel dynamics.     

Facets of Trust in Relationships – A Literature Synthesis of Highly Ranked Trust Articles

This article offers a literature synthesis of 800 highly ranked trust articles published between 1966 and 2006. The literature synthesis is a tool for the development of a general trust model. The empirical findings support eight main clusters gained from forty identified key variables and three trust interaction types: trust between persons, trust between organizations, and trust between a person and an organization.     

Dimensions and Levels of Trust: Implications for Commitment to a Relationship

Previous research has found that trust is positively related to commitment in buyer-seller relationships. However, the validity of this finding is questionable because trust has been operationalized in many different ways. For example, prior research has not distinguished among levels of trust (interpersonal or organizational trust) and dimensions or motives of trust (credibility or benevolence). In this study, we distinguish among the levels and dimensions of trust. The results indicate that trust in a sales representative (interpersonal credibility) is more strongly related to commitment than trust in an organization (organizational credibility). In contrast, trust based on organizational benevolence is a stronger predictor of commitment than interpersonal benevolence.     

跨组织电子商务与企业间信任、承诺关系研究

跨组织电子商务的发展为合作企业带来诸多优势,并可能会影响到合作企业关系。将经典的关系变量(如信任、承诺和关系价值创造)与跨组织电子商务纳入到模型进行实证研究,结果表明,跨组织电子商务并没有对关系价值创造产生积极影响,而承诺会对跨组织电子商务使用产生积极影响,信任对于跨组织电子商务的使用是否产生影响并不明朗,同时信任和承诺对于关系价值创造的积极影响关系以及信任对于承诺的积极影响关系得到了验证。     

Service Quality in Customer Relationships:

This article presents the results of a study of 205 service-related critical incidents in customer relationships in mechanical engineering companies. Information has been gathered from 15 Swedish companies, including Asea Brown Boveri Robotics, Atlas Copco, Bofors, Carlamo, Zander &; Ingesttorn and Wennmec. The selection has been made so as to obtain a spread as regards both tine of production and size of company.

The overall aim of the inquiry has been to increase the understanding of service-related critical incidents in the perspective of long-term, interactive customer relationships. What lies behind these situations? What effect do they have on the development of the selling process? How are customer relations affected? Critical incidents directly connected with the price or the hardware have not been included in this study.

‘Critical incident’ means a problematic, unpleasant situation which places special demands on the service-producing company's resources, especially on its personnel: for example, a customer meeting that fails to avoid friction. The customer may demand customer adaptation of the hardware, special training, special terms of guarantee, short delivery time or a special financing model. Other examples of critical incidents are agreements that have not been kept and missing or incorrect information.     

An Investigation of Trust,Satisfaction, and Commitment on Repurchase Intentions in Professional Services

Abstract

The predictive ability of trust, satisfaction, and commitment regarding a customer's intent to retain professional service providers is explored. Trust, in business relationships, is typically perceived as a consequent of satisfaction and experience. However, professional service customers may be unable to commence relationships without trusting their providers; thus, the stance that trust leads to commitment may not hold. Given the difficulty that professional service customers have regarding their ability to assess their providers' trustworthiness, customers may take trust for granted once the relationship begins. Regression analyses suggest that professional service customers utilize satisfaction and commitment, rather than trust, to determine repurchase intentions.     

关系营销中基于承诺与信任的客户回报计划的机制研究

客户回报计划已成为一种重要的关系营销手段,但却没有太多研究着眼于回报计划的运作机制。本文研究了回报计划感知价值与承诺和信任的关系以及感知价值通过承诺与信任对客户忠诚的影响,并建立了回报计划运作机制研究模型,之后通过实验设计获取数据验证了此模型。研究结果为营销研究和客户回报计划实践提供了理论指导。     

Value Co-Creation in Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer Service Relationships

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationships among value co-creation, switching costs (SC), and customer share (CS) in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships. In spite of increasing attention to value co-creation in the Service Dominant Logic, there are only a limited number of empirical studies on this concept. Furthermore, few researchers have investigated the inter-relationship among value co-creation, SC, and CS in a single framework for both B2B and B2C relationships, although many enterprises serve both types of customers. The conceptual framework is developed primarily based on relationship marketing and services marketing. This study evaluates six hypotheses, analyzing survey data from 209 enterprises and 337 individuals by structural equation modeling (SEM). Further, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted to confirm the convergent validity and discriminant validity. In conclusion, the positive impact of execution of value co-creation (EVC) activities on SC and CS is supported with appropriate statistical evidence in both B2B and B2C relationships. Also, the causal relationship between values in relational exchanges (VRE) and CS is confirmed with adequate empirical findings for both relationships. These results suggest to marketing managers that service firms may achieve larger CS by executing value co-creation activities and providing VRE for customers.     

The Interdependence between Trade Credit and Bank Lending: Commitment in Intermediary Firm Relationships

This study investigates the interdependence between trade and bank credit among 468 Portuguese small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The results show that a single bank relationship is prevalent among Portuguese SMEs, indicating that the proprietary borrower information that banks obtain through their relationship results in an information monopoly that creates a holdup problem and leads to high interest rates. Suppliers that can control their customers' credit risk may provide additional credit and thus help alleviate concerns associated with holdup costs. Trade credit is a viable alternative to short‐term debt, especially when firms' main bank is unwilling to increase its exposure to liquidity constraints.