Anxious attachment, relational embeddedness, trust, co-production, and performance: An empirical study in online business-to-business relationships

Abstract

PurposeThe online shopping platform serves as an intermediary between online stores and individual online shoppers. The purposes of this study are to examine the influence of anxious attachment and relational embeddedness on trust and to investigate the impact of trust and co-production on performance in the context of online seller-shopping platform relationships. Design/methodology/approachThe research is an empirical research using data collected from 308 senior marketing managers of online stores selling products/services in two largest online shopping platforms. Structure equation modeling was employed to verify and validate the research model. FindingsThe outcomes confirm that online sellers’ anxious attachment plays a key role and is negatively associated with their trust in the online shopping platform. Relational embeddedness positively affects trust of online sellers in the online shopping platform. The effect of trust on co-production and the influence of co-production on performance are statistically significant. However, trust does not appear to positively influence performance. Research limitations/implicationsThis study surveyed targeted online sellers in Taiwan and the research outcomes may not be generalized to other countries. Practical implicationsThe research results provide insights for the online shopping platform in understanding online sellers’ attachment anxiety and developing relational bonds with them to generate a favorable partnership. Originality/valueThis study represents one of the few that empirically examines the role of anxious attachment in online business-to-business partnerships and the findings provide useful information for the online shopping platform to improve customers’ trust and participation.