Abstract
Bidirectional communication on a personal level plays an important role in developing a long-term buyer-seller relationship, but the process of interpersonal communication may be conflictual. Moreover, interpersonal trust may amplify or suppress the level of conflict in the communication. The present study examines how credibility trust and benevolence trust moderate the positive impact of bidirectional communication on reducing interpersonal conflict in buyer-seller contexts. Surveying data from 251 procurement professionals revealed that benevolence weakens the negative relationship between bidirectional communication and interpersonal conflict whereas credibility trust does not moderate the relationship. The implications of the divergence roles of both benevolence and credibility are discussed.
Highlights
For developing a long-term buyer-seller relationship, effective communication between a purchaser and a salesperson is highly crucial (Olkkonen, Tikkanen, & Alajoutsijärvi, 2000; Haytko, 2004)
In line with previous research on bidirectional communication (Dawes & Massey, 2005), our study shows the impacts of bidirectional communication on reducing interpersonal conflict in buyer-seller contexts
The direction of relationship between bidirectional communication and task conflict depends on the level of perceived benevolence in a salesperson
Summary
For developing a long-term buyer-seller relationship, effective communication between a purchaser and a salesperson is highly crucial (Olkkonen, Tikkanen, & Alajoutsijärvi, 2000; Haytko, 2004). Various facets of trust may play crucial roles to raise or reduce interpersonal conflict. Credibility trust may reduce interpersonal conflict because the confidence in knowledge and expertise of a salesperson may influence a purchaser to positively interpret the opposing viewpoints the salesperson provides (Doney & Cannon, 1997). This limits the purchaser’s critical stance toward opposing perspectives (Langfred, 2004). The question of whether various facets of trust result in different impacts on the relationship between bidirectional communication and interpersonal conflict requires further discussion
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