Institutionalized place branding strategy,interfirm trust,and place branding performance: Evidence from China

This study investigates the relationships among institutionalized place branding strategy, interfirm trust, and place branding performance. Findings indicate that each of the institutionalized place branding strategies (regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive) has positive effects on interfirm trust. The relative predictability of these dimensions on interfirm trust also falls into a particular order: Normative is most predictable, followed by cultural-cognitive, then regulatory. Cultural-cognitive strategy can not only directly drive interfirm trust but also negatively moderate the effects of regulatory and normative strategies on interfirm trust. Finally, interfirm trust has a positive effect on place branding performance. These results altogether provide valuable insights into the effect of institutionalized place branding strategies on interfirm trust, which encourages firms to be collaboratively involved in place branding strategies.     

Formation of Reputation in Business Markets

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study adopts a relational perspective on reputation. We investigate how relationship characteristics impact a customer’s judgment of supplier reputation. We include characteristics at both the interfirm and interpersonal levels, and we additionally link these characteristics to interfirm trust in order to explore similarities and differences between reputation and interfirm trust.

Methodology/approach: A survey was conducted among firms in the Norwegian offshore oil and gas industry. We assessed the measurement model and tested the hypotheses by applying LISREL.

Findings: The results show that the customer’s dependence on the supplier, common knowledge, and interpersonal trust are positively related to reputation, while opportunism is negatively related to reputation. Reputation is positively linked to interfirm trust, and both reputation and interfirm trust impact the customer’s satisfaction with the supplier.

Research implications: This study sheds light on the role of relational mechanisms in reputation formation. It suggests that reputation primarily consists of cognitive components, while interfirm trust consists of more affective components. Reputation is an important factor in developing interfirm trust.

Practical implications: This study underscores the importance of a firm’s core relationships to customers for developing its reputation. Managers need to carefully develop their relationships to customers in such a way that these relationships are consistent with and confirm the reputation they want to build.

Originality/value: The study supports the view that relational characteristics play important roles in the formation of reputation in business markets.     

A Framework for Ethical Conformity in Marketing

The extant marketing literature provides little guidance for theory development or practice with regard to questions of ethical conformity and the resulting market response. To begin to bridge this research gap, we advance a theoretical framework of ethical conformity in marketing, appealing to marketing ethics, management strategy, and sociological foundations. We set the stage for our theoretical arguments by considering the role of normative expectations related to marketing practices and behaviors held by societal constituents. Against this backdrop, we propose drivers of conformity in marketing, including practices consistent with both overconformity and underconformity. The framework allows us to advance testable research propositions by which questions of ethical conformity may be explored. We conclude by suggesting additional future research needed to develop the domain, specifically in the form of empirical inquiries uncovering firm strategic decisions with ethical implications. Kelly D. Martin is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her research interests involve marketing strategy with ethical implications, interfirm relationships, the role of marketing in society, and the effects of institutions, social norms, and culture on organizations. Her work has appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and Business & Society. Jean L. Johnson is the Gardner O. Hart Professor of Marketing at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Her research focuses on marketing strategy, interfirm relationships, and capabilities and learning in firms. Her work appears in the Journal of Marketing, the Academy of Management Journal, and Journal of International Business Studies, among others.     

The Joint Effects of Formal Institutions and Business Characteristics on Interfirm Guanxi in China: A Fuzzy Set Analysis

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This research intends to investigate the effects of formal market institutions on managers’ willingness to use personal networks, such as guanxi in China, for business success.

Methodology: We collect data from a major cellular phone manufacturer and its 277 retailers across China. We employ Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) to identify necessary conditions and causal recipes (combinations of antecedent conditions) for three elements of guanxi between boundary spanners (i.e., ganqing, information favor, and business support) and a firm’s operational performance.

Findings: We find that formal market institutions are not the sole factor influencing managers’ decisions on exercising guanxi practices and, in turn, achieving interfirm collaboration. We also find that there exists more than one causal recipe leading to each key element of guanxi between boundary spanners. The results also suggest that well-established formal market institutions would never be able to completely eliminate guanxi practices in China.

Originality: This paper is among the first to examine the joint effects of formal market institutions and key characteristics of interfirm relationships on the use of guanxi practices.     

The Space Between: Towards a Typology of Interfirm Relations

ABSTRACT

Understanding and managing the relationships between firms is the central issue in business to business marketing. Some of the results of a program of research undertaken in Australia to study interfirm relations are used to develop an empirically based typology of interfirm relations focusing on the mix of cooperative and competitive elements coexisting in a relationship. Measures are developed of relationship cooperativeness and competitiveness and relations are classified into one of four types based on whether they score high or low on each dimension. A dynamic process model of interfirm relationships is developed as a basis for identifying the main factors driving relationship development. Measures of these factors form the basis for regression analysis to identify the characteristics of each of the four types of relations and examples of particular relationships are used to illustrate the characteristics identified.     

Trust in the Board: A Strategic Imperative in Times of Uncertainty

ABSTRACT

In turbulent environments, investors seek to minimize risk. Many public/nonprofit organizations evoke a sense of trust in their members by maintaining boards of directors. This study examined faculty member attitudes about the public/nonprofit institutions and boards who manage their retirement funds (n = 240). A structural model revealed that investors developed trust in the board when they view the organization positively through reliable communication, a sense of shared values and retirement funds that perform soundly. As a mediator of attitude toward the organization trust in the board also diminished investor perceptions of risk, and partially explained whether members cooperated and continued with the organization. The findings support trust as a key intervening factor in member-organization relationships and suggest building trust in board governance as an effective way to reduce uncertainty.     

Interfirm Relationships in Emerging Markets: The Importance of Relationships and Cultural Sensitivity

While interfirm relationship value has attracted considerable attention in a domestic market context, little research has examined international buyer-seller relationships. This is surprising, as interfirm relationships across national borders have become increasingly important due to growing liberalization of world trade. Even less research is found including emerging markets. This study use cases with Norwegian seafood export to Turkey as illustrations of the importance of relationship value and cultural sensitivity when conducting business with an emerging country such as Turkey. The data is based on in-depth interviews of Turkish importers.     

"Is It Commercially Irresponsible to Trust?"

This paper considers a recent U.K. legal dispute where a supplier sued a large organization, which had been a long-term customer, for breach of implied contract. It uses this case to discuss aspects of the nature of trust between organizations. The discussion encompasses a consideration of the distinction between trust and reliability; and, why the concept of blanket trust is not helpful. In conclusion, by contrasting business-to-business and personal relationships, the paper suggests that firms in their relationships with other institutions should never follow an unquestioning form of strong trust.     

The Structures of Cooperation: Downscaling,Outsourcing and the Networked Alliance

This article explores interfirm cooperation and its relationship with downscaling, cooperative outsourcing, and the network structures of multiple firm alliances. Downscaling is defined and related to cooperative outsourcing, as major influences shaping interfirm relations. The advantages of embedding cooperative outsourcing in strategic alliances are then addressed, with special relevance to small and medium-size firms. Five types of network structures that may develop within alliances are considered, relating their main characteristics and internal division of labor to various aspects of interfirm cooperation, such as embeddedness, disparities, commitment and trust.     

The Meaning(s) of Trust. A Content Analysis on the Diverse Conceptualizations of Trust in Scholarly Research on Business Relationships

Scholarly research largely converges on the argument that trust is of paramount importance to drive economic agents toward mutually satisfactory, fair, and ethically compliant behaviors. There is, however, little agreement on the meaning of trust, whose conceptualizations differ with respect to actors, relationships, behaviors, and contexts. At present, we know much better what trust does than what trust is. In this article, we present an extensive review and analysis of the most prominent articles on trust in market relationships. Using computer-aided content analysis and network analysis methods, we identify key, recurring dimensions that guided the conceptualization of trust in past research, and show how trust can be developed as a multifaceted and layered construct. Our results are an important contribution to a convergence of research toward a shared and common view of the meaning of trust. This process is important to ensure the body of trust research’s internal theoretical consistency, and to provide reliable and common principles for the management of business relationships – a context in which opportunism and imperfect information may induce economic actors to cheat and stray from fair and ethically compliant behaviors.     

Manufacture upgrade and interfirm relationship development: the case of electronics firms in the Pearl River Delta

Despite significant economic benefits of manufacture upgrade from original equipment manufacturing, through to original design manufacturing to own brand manufacturing, research on interfirm relationship development during the process of manufacture upgrade has remained underdeveloped. This article examines different types of interfirm relationships and their impact on manufacture upgrade using case studies of electronics firms located in the Pearl River Delta. The findings suggest that three iterative processes support relationship development: resource seeking, learning and networking. These processes influence relationship development for both vertical and horizontal relations through trust-based personal relationships. In particular, the insights provided by relational view of interfirm relationships appear to complement and support economic goals of governance mechanisms.     

The trickle-down effect of trust in business-to-business relationships: How can a supplier ensure cooperation from multiple customers?

Abstract

Although several interfirm cooperation studies have expanded the unit of analysis from dyads to triads (networks), there is scant literature focusing on whether and how a supplier’s relationship with a customer influences its relationships with other customers. Individual relationship dyads are not isolated but interact with one another. Particularly, mutual trust in a supplier–customer relationship dyad may influence other customers’ cooperative behavior. This cross-dyadic influence is called the “trickle-down effect of trust.” A hypothesis for the mechanism by which this effect occurs was generated, focusing on the customers’ demand information offerings as a cooperative behavior. The results of an empirical analysis indicate that (1) a supplier’s mutual trust with its primary customer encourages nonprimary customers to offer their demand information to the supplier and (2) the quality of information from customers helps the supplier to make their new product more meaningful.     

Particularistic and system trust among small and medium enterprises: A comparative study in China's transition economy

Guanxi, a type of particularistic trust observed in Confucian societies has mostly been viewed as a static phenomenon. It is not clear how the role of guanxi changes over time during institutional transitions. This field study of twenty one small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in two large cities in Western China examines the changes in SME behaviors since the beginning of economic reforms in 1979. Based on neo-institutionalist trust perspectives, the article argues that the role of guanxi also arose from the paucity of market system trust created by the absence of well-established market institutions during China's transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. Guanxi became relatively less important when market system trust based on well-established institutions was firmly established. Regardless of past practices, the dynamics of institutional transitions leading to the establishment of system trust inevitably reshapes managerial as well as business behaviors, with adaptation occurring to the new rules of the market economy.     

电子商务信用中介经济功能的实证分析

电子商务信用中介是电子商务市场中的第三方实体机构,其目标是克服电子商务市场的信用障碍与信用风险,提高电子商务市场整体的信用信息与信用意识,形成良好的信用文化.在电子商务实践过程中,第三方信用中介平台扮演了相当重要的角色,它通过制定交易规则、实施交易管理,如实名认证、支付托管、信用评价等手段,构建电子商务市场中的信用机制,从而实现维护公平交易环境、促进交易达成的目标.本文采用调查问卷的方法,通过构建结构方程式模型对第三方信用中介的作用机理进行实证研究.研究结果显示,除实名认证对网站信任的作用未通过验证外,其他研究假设均得到了验证.信用反馈机制的有效性、第三方支付工具的有效性、沟通及互动机制的有效性对交易主体对电子商务网站的信任有正向影响;电子商务网站平台的信任对交易主体的最终购买意向有正向影响.     

Antecedents of importer relationship performance in Latin America

Emerging market importers are increasingly engaging in relationships with foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, characteristics of the institutional and cultural environments of countries may affect relationship behavior. Furthermore, research on relationship marketing primarily focuses on the marketing activities of exporters from developed countries and much less attention is paid to the import side of the exchange process. Thus, the objective of this study is to empirically examine importer relationship performance in a Latin American context. This article proposes and tests a conceptual model that includes the antecedents and outcomes of trust and commitment with a survey of Chilean importers. The model uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to develop the construct measures and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the model. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the driving forces of trust and commitment and their influence on importing firms' performance in an emerging market context.     

A Temporal Model of Vertical Relationships

Purpose: The authors developed a model framework for buyer–supplier relationships and used it to extend theory in 4 areas: (a) maintenance of long-term relationships; (b) conversion of relationships from adversarial to cooperative; (c) changes in relationships over their lives; and (d) levels of commitment and trust between partners.

Methodology/approach: The authors analyzed existing research on buyer–seller relationships and theoretical concepts in various disciplines to develop a 3-stage temporal relationship model consisting of pre-deal (t–1), deal enactment (t), and deal continuation (t+1) stages. From the model and existing research, the authors drew propositions for relationships in the areas of buyer and seller power, several forms of commitment and trust, intellectual capital, and financial performance.

Findings: Briefly, the authors proposed that (a) at the pre-deal stage, increased buyer power may instigate supplier input commitment or vice versa; (b) at deal enactment, both parties may commit to a written contract and build contractual trust through a low degree of relational commitment; and (c) in the deal continuation stage, contractual trust, and attitudinal commitment of one of the parties is likely to foster attitudinal commitment in the other party. The authors found that buyer's and supplier's total commitment fosters goodwill trust and helps build intellectual capital and financial performance, and that the weaker party in the relationship likely gains more from the partnership than the stronger party.

Research implications: In addition to existing research, the authors used several actual situations to provide support for our propositions. However, more research should be done in all areas to additionally confirm our propositions and otherwise add to theory development.

Practical implications: By looking at buyer–seller relationships in three stages, the authors developed several implications for both parties. These included long-term results of short-term actions, importance of industry factors on buyer and seller commitment, and the role of commitment in determining whether long-term relationships are developed.

Originality/value/contribution: The authors extended and coordinated existing theory by consolidating the implications of previous research into a cohesive buyer–supplier relationship model. This model should enable both researchers and managers to better comprehend the dynamics of vertical relationships with a multi-dimensional, reciprocal approach. The results should also provide managers an additional tool to gauge and forecast the fate of a relationship by analyzing levels of trust and commitment as the relationship progresses.     

Developing the Causal Model of Online Store Success

This article introduces an Online Store Success Model (OSM) that reflects the characteristics of information systems, marketing, and e-commerce, and then empirically test the model. The OSM has five dimensions: system quality, information quality, service quality, trust, and customer loyalty. The model posits the causal relationships between the dimensions. In order to empirically test the model, a research model is developed and empirically analyzed by structural equation modeling using data from 244 customers on 69 online store websites. The results show that system quality significantly influences service quality and trust; information quality significantly influences service quality and customer loyalty; service quality also significantly influences trust and customer loyalty; and trust has a significant influence on customer loyalty.     

Is Interpersonal Guanxi Beneficial in Fostering Interfirm Trust? The Contingent Effect of Institutional- and Individual-Level Characteristics

Journal of Business Ethics - Despite the prevalent role of guanxi in conducting business in Chinese, it is unclear whether interpersonal guanxi fosters interfirm trust. Taking a contingency...