Trust Deterioration in an International Buyer-Supplier Relationship

Despite an abundance of research on inter-organizational trust, researchers are only beginning to understand the process of trust deterioration as an inter-organizational phenomenon. This paper presents a case study examining the deteriorating relationship between two international high-tech firms. We surveyed respondents from the supplier firm to identify major elements that reduced the supplier's trust in its customer, using the dimensions of trust identified by Mayer et al. (1995). While violations of ability, integrity, and benevolence all contributed to trust reduction, early violations of trustee benevolence contributed importantly to trust deterioration. Over time, the relationship became "sensitive," and respondents reported many incidents of trust violation. Managers reported primarily integrity- and benevolence-related incidents, while no pattern emerged among operations personnel. We examine the results in light of Hosmer's (1995) ethically-based trust principles. The supplier and customer would likely differ in their opinion of whether the customer was acting "ethically." This suggests that scholars need to examine how many principles can be violated before trust is eliminated, and whether any of the principles are particularly salient in business relationships.     

How online trust evolves over time: The role of social perception

Using customer service scenarios in an online retail context, the current study examines how cognitive and affective trust develop over time and how service failure negatively impacts trust, along with the trust restoration opportunities provided by recovery. Study 1 findings reveal that the relationship between Web site social perception and affective trust is stronger for repeat visitors than for first-time visitors. Study 2 findings indicate that failure timing and recovery duration play important roles in service failure situations. Overall, the results demonstrate that consumer cognitive and affective trust develop through the number of interactions with a retail Web site over time and that increased Web site social perceptions facilitate the trust-building process.     

Conceptualizations of Trust: Can We Trust Them?

Although logistics and supply chain management research efforts have continued to become more sophisticated, opportunities still exist for further advancement. One critical area needing improvement is enhanced scale development and validation. This study provides insights into the strengths and weaknesses of one specific construct, trust, by examining how trust has been measured in our literature. A methodology for improving scale development, the Q‐sort procedure, is used to demonstrate a need for better measurement scales. Our findings suggest that numerous measures of trust have been used for logistics and supply chain research—most of which have been borrowed from other disciplines—without significant replication. More importantly, the results illustrate that all too often content validity is less than adequate. It appears as though we are not always measuring what we want to. Greater focus is recommended for future research that examines theory‐based scale development, purification of measures, and replication of scales to further refine and improve construct measurement for enhanced survey research.     

The Effects of Digital Media Advertising Content on Message Acceptance or Rejection: Brand Trust as a Moderating Factor

The goal of this study is: (1) to expand upon prior research into general online content, (2) to analyze the acceptance and rejection factors of Internet advertising messages, and (3) to examine the moderating role of brand trust in this process. The results show that, when displaying intentions relating to the acceptance of online advertising, brand trust is not a significant influencing variable. However, when studying the intent to reject a message, brand trust does act as a barrier against the negative effect of irritation, while when this trust does not exist, irritation exercises a significant negative effect on advertising value.     

The Influence of Seller,Auctioneer, and Bidder Factors on Trust in Online Auctions

A growing body of research promotes the importance of trust in the business-to-consumer e-commerce environment. However, there has been little research on consumer trust in the new frontier of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online auctions. The current study investigates the factors that influence bidders’ trust in online auctions from seller (trust arguments), bidder (disposition to trust), and auctioneer (structural assurance and perceived Web risk) perspectives in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of trust in the C2C environment. Laboratory experiments (manipulating the trust arguments in “about me” page) and online questionnaire surveys (measuring the subjects’ responses regarding structural assurance, perceived risk, disposition to trust, trust, and purchase intention) were conducted to collect necessary data. The results suggest that benevolent sellers significantly influence the trust of bidders. Analysis also finds that structural assurance is the most influential predictor of trust, which significantly influences a buyer's intention to purchase. In addition, disposition to trust is a significant predictor of trusting belief, whereas perceived Web risk does not predict purchase intention.     

变革型领导对企业员工组织信任影响的实证研究

文章以湖南省十家大中型企业251名员工为研究对象,构建了一个包括变革型领导、组织公平、组织政治知觉和组织信任在内的概念模型,运用结构方程建模方法,探讨变革型领导对员工组织信任的影响机制。研究结果表明,变革型领导不仅对员工组织信任具有直接显著的正面影响,而且还通过组织公平、组织政治知觉对员工组织信任产生间接的显著影响,组织公平和组织政治知觉是变革型领导影响企业员工组织信任的中介变量。文章的研究结论对我国企业的人力资源管理具有直接的现实意义。     

包容型领导如何影响员工挑战型组织公民行为？基于信任的多重中介效应模型研究

基于资源保存理论,文章采用配对追踪多来源问卷调查法探讨了员工认知信任、情感信任及其互动在包容型领导与挑战型组织公民行为关系中的中介作用及其效应。跨层次模型数据分析结果表明：包容型领导可以有效预测员工的挑战型组织公民行为;包容型领导可以直接通过情感信任间接影响员工的挑战型组织公民行为,情感信任在这个过程中起着完全中介作用;包容型领导行为还可以通过认知信任和情感信任间接影响员工的挑战型组织公民行为,即员工的认知信任要通过情感信任才能发挥影响员工挑战型组织公民行为的间接作用。     

Multilevel trust in international marketing of healthcare services: A five-country comparative study

PurposeThis research aims to increase understanding on how multilevel trust is developed as well as how trust levels are interconnected and influence international marketing strategy for healthcare services.Design/Methodology/ApproachA comparative case study approach was applied with Elekta, a Swedish firm, operating in Brazil, the Philippines, China, Russia, and Hong Kong.FindingsThe research culminated in a multilevel trust (MLT) model comprised of three levels relating to individuals, company performance, and context.Research implications/limitationsThis study offers a context-based multilevel trust model from a process perspective focusing on healthcare. This model can be tested in other service sectors.Practical implicationsManagers should consider multilevel trust to boost relationships and achieve local acceptance.Originality/ValueThis research contributes to trust theory by constructing a context-based multilevel trust model for international healthcare marketing.     

共享经济下消费者信任的形成机理及影响机制

在对336份调研问卷实证分析基础上,从在线信任理论、制度信任理论及社会渗透理论出发,对我国共享经济下消费者信任的前因和后果及其作用机制进行研究,认为制度机制有效性感知是能代表审核与认证机制有效性感知、隐私保证机制有效性感知和安全保障机制有效性感知的形成性二阶变量,对消费者信任有显著正向影响;与供方互动有效性感知对消费者信任的正向影响不显著,与其他消费者互动有效性感知对消费者信任的正向影响显著;消费者信任对持续共享意愿有显著正向影响,并对感知风险有显著负向影响;制度机制有效性和社会互动有效性对消费者信任的影响存在显著的性别差异,即性别对这两条路径具有调节效应。因此,共享经济平台企业应建立健全管理制度,构建安全、信赖、可靠的在线交易环境,提高消费者的信任和信心,以实现共享平台的可持续发展;共享平台应优化平台网站界面,充分利用社交媒体和社交网络,构建线上和线下平台共享社区,释放共享平台在基层民主治理创新方面的活力;政府主管部门应牢牢把握消费者安全至上的发展理念,加强与平台企业之间的数据共享,建立和完善共享平台与政府部门联动的应急处置机制和风险防范化解机制,形成多元主体协同治理新格局;基于消费数据,共享平台应对市场进行有效细分,制定有针对性的差异化运营策略和营销策略,最大化满足消费者个性需求。     

电商平台信用机制与用户嵌入性梯度效应及作用机制

电商交易流量红利趋于放缓的形势下,增强用户嵌入性、创造平台的长期价值成为电商平台治理面临的重要挑战。本文研究信用机制三个要素(印章、评价、契约)对用户嵌入性的递进梯度效应,同时,基于“认知-情感”框架,进一步揭示二者之间的中介机制,即在认知与情感双路径中间构建一条链式中介路径,最终形成双元反向链式中介模型。运用结构方程模型进行实证研究,结果表明:三个要素对用户嵌入性呈现逐级递增的正向影响,其中,风险感知与信任在印章、契约机制与用户嵌入关系中起到链式中介作用;评价机制对用户的信任影响不显著,而信用评价机制的规则设计、内容真实度是难以形成用户信任的主要原因。本研究对于拓展平台信用理论具有重要的启示,并为实践中如何构建信用体系和促进用户深度嵌入到平台进而创造平台的长期价值提供有益视角。     

电子商务交易中信任度计算模型研究

信任是建立社会关系的基础,也是建立社会秩序的基本工具。在电子商务领域,信任则是交易能够发生的前提,如何度量信任、计算信任则成为电子商务系统的重要组成部分。本文针对目前电子商务信任管理系统中信任计算模型存在的问题,提出一个综合考虑用户信任度影响因素的信任度计算模型,给出相应的计算公式和方法,并引入信任担保机制、信任奖惩机制等,以克服现行信任管理系统对新用户的不公平以及存在的"freerider 现象"等。     

Elucidating trust-building sources in social shopping: A consumer cognitive and emotional trust perspective

With the popularity and growth of social commerce, scholars and practitioners are particularly interested in how the integration of social media with e-commerce practice may resolve the challenge related to developing consumer-seller trust. Adopting a cognitive-emotional trust perspective, this study investigated the process by which consumers' trust in seller builds in a social commerce setting. Specifically, perceived familiarity, situational normality, cognitive and emotional trust in platform, and social interactivity were proposed as key antecedents of consumers' cognitive and emotional trust in seller. The model was examined with two complementary data sets collected from leading social commerce platforms in China: WeChat Store (N = 430) and Xiaohongshu (N = 397). This work advances the theoretical understanding of consumer's social shopping intention through extending the cognitive-emotional trust perspective and lends insights into the contextualized sources of trust building. In addition, these findings offer practical implications that help practitioners cost-effectively build consumer trust in the social commerce setting.     

基于零售业高端产品中的销售员信任与选购后满意度关系模型研究

近些年来,销售员信任问题已经越来越多地得到企业界和理论界的重视,但大多研究都是基于BtoB营销情景下的销售员信任问题,涉及消费者与销售员之间信任的研究还很少。本文针对零售业高端产品的营销情境,对销售员的信任问题进行了重新界定并探讨了测量方法。在此基础上,应用基于PLS-GRAPH的结构方程模型(SEM)构建了以销售员信任为核心的多变量模型,通过对高端彩电卖场的实证调研及数据检验,验证了多变量之间存在的复杂关系,对在中国零售业建立消费者的信任倾向有着重要的理论指导意义。     

合作伙伴间的信任问题研究

随着全球经济的发展,市场竞争不在是单一企业的竞争,而是企业群之间的竞争。企业需要学会如何与其他企业进行合作的策略与技巧,来应付激烈的市场竞争。在影响企业合作的诸多因素中,合作企业间的相互信任起到了至关重要的作用。首先详细论述了我国合作企业间信任关系的现状,并用定性与博弈论两种分析工具分析了导致这种现状的原因,最后,提出了如何促进合作企业相互信任的几点建议。     

How Task-Facilitative Interactive Tools Foster Buyers’ Trust in Online Retailers: A Process View of Trust Development in the Electronic Marketplace

While there is a sustained interest in research focusing on issues relating to trust development in the electronic marketplace, significant gaps remain in the literature. In particular, little is known of the underlying processes that may be occurring in online trust development. For example, research suggests that factors such as site design and navigability are among the factors that impact trust perceptions. Extant literature, however, is largely silent about why certain trust-related effects are observed in online environments. In this paper, we propose a new process-centric perspective for understanding the formation of online trust—through buyer's assessment of the e-retailer's assistive intent, implicitly embedded in task-facilitative interactive tools. Specifically, we develop and test a model delineating the relationship between seller's provision of interactive product information management and product information comprehension tools, buyer's perceptions of seller's assistive intent, and buyer's initial trust in the seller. The results of two studies provide support for the trust-enhancing effects of task-facilitative informational tools and the mediating role of buyer's perceptions of seller's assistive intent. Importantly, these effects occur without any explicit expressions of seller's intentions. The results also suggest that the efficacy of interactive informational tools in engendering perceptions of seller's assistive intent, and hence trust, varies with the buyer's level of involvement with and knowledge of the product category.     

Export Market Development: Planning and Relationship Processes of Entrepreneurs in Different Countries

This article makes an initial exploration of whether and to what extent different national values may affect the development of export markets through business to business relationships between entrepreneurs in different countries. It does this by specifically examining the trust between people and the nature and role of business planning in the export market development process. To do this, different modes of both planning and relationship development are first distinguished, based on two separate research traditions. Notions of national values developed in previous research are outlined and used to develop formal tabulated propositions regarding how national values might influence business planning and trust formation. The relevance and applicability in understanding different approaches to business development in different countries is then explored. The discussions of three matched case entrepreneurs from different countries are examined in terms of the propositions detailed by means of verbal protocol analysis. This exploratory study helps concrete propositions to be suggested why and how national values influence export market development processes through the development of theoretical typologies. Planning and relationship processes were both important but the relationships came first, in all three entrepreneurs. Different types of trusting relationships were sought and required by the individuals examined, however, that largely concurred with national values stereotypes. These, in turn, led to different approaches to the timing, role, and nature of export planning. It is hoped that the article contributes an understanding of how different national values might lead to different roles for planning and relationships in export market development.     

Social commerce: Is interpersonal trust formation similar between U.S.A. and Spain?

In social commerce, interpersonal trust when individuals communicate is key among the parties. The main objective of this study is to investigate how the consequent variables, “interpersonal trust” and “users’ intention”, are impacted by the antecedents of trust-building and cultural dimensions when people are engaged in social commerce. The research model is substantiated using data collected in the U.S.A. and Spain. While all the trust-building antecedents have significant positive impact upon trust, there are cultural differences between the countries. The findings can be of interest to global marketing managers and information officers.     

调节定向在品牌忠诚动态形成过程中的作用

现有基于消费者—品牌关系对品牌忠诚影响因素的实证研究发现,品牌信任和品牌情感是品牌忠诚的决定因素。尽管很多学者认为应该从动态的视角认识忠诚的概念,却没有随着时间推移来研究消费者品牌忠诚的发展过程的文献。为了弥补现有营销文献中这一理论的不足,文章提供了一个关于品牌情感和品牌信任同时影响品牌忠诚形成过程的动态研究。通过一个纵向情境模拟实验研究发现随着时间的推移,品牌信任和品牌情感在品牌忠诚的形成过程中作用在不断变化,并且消费者自我调节定向与品牌信任或品牌情感的的匹配会增强其在品牌忠诚形成过程中的作用。     

The Process of Trust Formation in E-Business: Insights from Case Studies of Two Small Firms

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate and theoretically explain the process of trust formation in high risk e-business.

Methodology/approach: The interpretive case-based approach has been used in this study. Inductive analysis of interview data helped to develop the process model of trust formation in the context of business-to-business e-market transactions by two small firms.

Research implications: This research explains how and why trial outcomes influence trust formation. The findings also indicate the importance of the trialing process as a legitimate means of determining trustworthiness of the other party and the e-business platform. These findings add to the existing body of knowledge on trust in e-business and have important implications for further research.

Practical implications: The practical implication is that if sponsors of business-to-business e-markets can support initial trials, it would foster trust and lead to more active usage of e-business methods.

Originality/value/contribution: This research shows that trust formation in high risk e-business is a dynamic process, influenced by changes in risk perceptions from repeated trial outcomes in initial stages, a departure from prior variance studies with assumptions of static perceptions of risk and trust.     

The Productive Tension of Trust and Distrust: The Coexistence and Relative Role of Trust and Distrust in Online Banking

This study examines the effects of trustworthiness perceptions and trustor dispositions on trust and distrust as well as the downstream influence of trust and distrust on intention to use online banking. More than 500 college students located across two universities completed a survey to provide data for the study. The findings from this study suggest that the “blind trust” and “blind distrust” perspectives used in isolation are incomplete and that a more comprehensive model of trust requires the inclusion of both perspectives. As hypothesized, results also support the assertion that trust and distrust are distinct constructs and that the established e-retailing trust nomological network holds in an online banking context. The study also contributes to the literature by establishing several distrust antecedents, as well as illustrating distrust's negative effect on intention to use online banking. Finally, the study illustrates how the influence of trust can overwhelm the effect of distrust in an online banking context.