Determinants of trust in a service provider: the moderating role of length of relationship

Abstract

Trust is a key factor in the establishment of long‐term relationships between service representatives and their customers. Prior research has documented that both “person‐related” (e.g. empathy, politeness and customer/service representative similarity) and “offer‐related” (customization, competence, reliability and promptness) service representative characteristics have an impact on trust. However, the relative importance of these characteristics, and in some cases the direction of their relationships with trust, has varied across studies. In this paper, we posit a contingency model of trust, suggesting that the effects of the above variables on trust are moderated by length of the customer/service provider relationship. Our model is tested in a business‐to‐business context by means of a mail survey involving 677 small business owners. The small business owners provided data about their relationships with their insurance industry service providers. Our results demonstrate how service representatives and firms can work toward the establishment of trust with their clients under varying market conditions.

The differentiated effects of CSR actions in the service industry

“…Prior to the service encounter, the customer forms expectations about the forthcoming experience using a number of intrinsic and extrinsic cues that give an indication of the likely performance standards. The information obtained in this pre-purchase stage is especially relevant in the service industry because of service-inherent characteristics-intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, and perishability (Grönroos, 1994;Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000), factors that make it difficult to anticipate the quality of the service until the service is tried and that lead customers to perceive service decisions as risky (Coulter and Coulter, 2002;Murray and Schlacter, 1990). In order to reduce the perceived risk and choose the best firm, customers look for information regarding the service company and its true characteristics (Bergen et al, 1992).…”

Analysing trust as a means of improving the effectiveness of the virtual supply chain

“…In particular, the trust factors identified through a survey conducted by Coulter and Coulter (2002) are well supported in the literature. These factors were employed in the current study to investigate trust within the context of Australian agribusiness supply chains, and formed the basis of the structured interview questions employed.…”

“…Trust in a supply chain can be related to the members' competence or work standard, skill, knowledge and ability to fulfil a promise, agreement or obligation (Coulter and Coulter, 2002;Kwon and Suh, 2005;Mayer et al, 1995;Selnes, 1998;Wu et al, 2004;Yee and Yeung, 2002). Mutual trust between supply chain partners is built on the trust in, and acknowledgement of, the competence of the other partner to provide goods or services customised to their requirements (Batt, 2003;Coulter and Coulter, 2002;Heffernan, 2004;Kwon and Suh, 2005;Zineldin and Jonsson, 2000).…”

A disztributív igazságosság fogalmának értelmezése a szolgáltatóvállalat nézőpontjából

“…Az empátia kifejezheti másik ember irányában való együttérzést, melegséget, a hibás viselkedés elismerését és a lelkiismeret-furdalást (Fehr -Gelfand, 2010 A bizalom fogalma számos kontextusban megjelenik a marketing-szakirodalomban, a kapcsolati marketing vonatkozásában, a márkázás kapcsán, és nem utolsósorban egy szolgáltatóvállalat megítélésében. Felfogásunk szerint a szolgáltatóval szembeni bizalom utal a szolgáltató őszinteségére, etikai standardjaira, megbízhatóságára (Coulter -Coulter, 2002).…”