Purchaser perceptions of early phase supplier relationships: The role of similarity and likeability

Abstract

We investigate trust formation in the understudied area of early-phase relationship and its effects on the selection of purchaser-supplier governance. The theoretical framework underlying the research draws on purchaser/supplier relationships, swift/affective trust formation, social exchange theory, and transaction cost analysis to develop the hypotheses. This study is the first to provide insights into early phase relationships and demonstrate that purchaser-supplier similarity and supplier’s likeability are significantly related to purchaser trust in suppliers. In particular, similarity has a stronger positive relationship with trust than supplier likeability. The combined results of a field study and a scenario-based experiment offer strong evidence that suppliers’ similarity and likeability play a key role in forming early trust and governance selection.