Conscientious enterprises: The role of decision makers' social identity and the preference to engage in B2B relationships

Abstract

Solving global challenges such as the climate crisis requires joint efforts which can be enabled and guided by B2B relationships. B2B relationship literature describes how similarity and proximity create a basis for success in B2B relationships due to organizational compatibility and strategic fit. However, only little is known about decision makers' tendencies to form B2B relationships. In an effort to understand the preferences of decision makers, we draw on social identity theory and the seminal work by Fauchart and Gruber (2011), who define three social identity archetypes: Darwinians, Missionaries, and Communitarians. Our results from a sample of 413 European decision makers demonstrate how the preference for B2B relationships is driven by an individual's social identity style. Contrary to social identity theory, relationships between “same- or similar others” are not preferred. Rather, differing individual social identity styles, i.e., Missionaries and Darwinians, have the preference to form B2B relationships. Drawing on Easton and Araujo's (1992) and Jones' (1991) arguments relating to distance, dependence, and information salience, our study delivers a nuanced perspective of the microfoundations in B2B relationships, and how individual social identity styles trigger the preference to engage in B2B relations.