Antecedents of Franchisee Trust

Abstract

Very little is known about how franchisors can maintain and/or create trust among their franchisees. This article develops a theoretical framework on antecedents of franchisees' trust in their franchisors and franchise systems. We integrate franchising literature with literature on trust in other organizational contexts to develop propositions and an overall framework. We argue that a franchisee's general propensity to trust combined with its perception of trustworthiness of its franchisor and franchise system determine this franchisee's level of organizational trust. We also distinguish three franchise system components consisting of several determinants that influence a franchisee's perception of its franchisor's and franchise system's trustworthiness.

Performance in Franchise Systems : The Franchisee Perspective

“…Like other topics in franchising, most of the studies in the marketing perspective have been conducted from the franchisor's point of view (Doherty and Alexander, 2004), and only a few has taken the franchisees' perspective (BordonabaJuste and Polo-Redondo, 2004). In recent years, however, due to the significant role of franchisees, it has received considerable attention, and several researchers such as (Davies et al, 2011, Croonen and Brand, 2013, Rodríguez et al, 2006 have studied the franchising from the franchisee's perspective. Following these articles, and the need for more empirical evidence (Rodríguez et al, 2006), this part of research aims to examine the effect of relationship factors on the franchisee's performance from the marketing perspective.…”

“…However, asymmetrical relationships in franchising have made the relationship in a franchise more complex. More franchisor power can be problematic, making the franchisee vulnerable to opportunistic behaviors by the franchisor (Croonen and Brand, 2013). that the parters' trust is the key variable for performance.…”

“…Searle et al, 2011, Zaheer et al, 1998. Interpersonal trust depends on the direct interaction between the specific individuals, while interorganizational trust is based on the other party's actions and decisions that affect the relationship and mutual benefit (Croonen and Brand, 2013). Researchers also make a distinction between the truster and the trustee (Croonen and Brand, 2013).…”

“…While many studies have examined various aspects of franchising from the franchisor's perspective, little research has taken the franchisee's perspective. Thus, this lack of research from the franchisee's perspective, has led to the limited understanding of the motivators, behaviors and consequences of franchising for the franchisees (Croonen and Brand, 2013). …”

“…Interpersonal trust depends on the direct interaction between the specific individuals, while interorganizational trust is based on the other party's actions and decisions that affect the relationship and mutual benefit (Croonen and Brand, 2013). Researchers also make a distinction between the truster and the trustee (Croonen and Brand, 2013). Since in a franchising context, the franchisee's trust in the franchise system is more important than the franchisee's feeling about the franchisor, this study focuses on interorganizational trust from the franchisee's (as a truster that has a certain degree of trust in the franchisor) perspective.…”