Relationship between Opportunism and Trust: An Empirical Study in the Automobile Sector of India

Abstract

Despite the critical role of opportunism on trust, opportunism was not properly explained in the literature and it has been observed that the studies were based mostly on the Western market. In view of this gap, this research paper investigates the role of opportunism on trust in inter-firm dyads, in the Indian automobile industry. A good number of books/past research studies between the years 1972 to 2011 are reviewed to prepare the literature review and to develop the hypothesis. This study is based upon the empirical findings of a quantitative research. The relationship between opportunism and trust is not found very strong. Interestingly, despite presence of opportunism, moderately high level of trust was observed in the studied relationships. The study suggests that managers should try to reduce opportunistic behaviour to develop trust which in turn develops commitment with the buyer/exchange partners in their relationship marketing strategy and extends a direction for further research specifically in the context of developing countries.