The impact of psychological contracts upon trust and commitment within supplier–buyer relationships: A social exchange view

Abstract

Central to this study is the emerging body of knowledge describing how social exchange relationships are being nurtured. A random sample of 343 Australian distributor firms from within the motorized vehicle industry was used to test a model developed on the basis of social exchange theory. Psychological contracts are perceptual in nature and were found to encompass reciprocal obligations stemming directly from the relational orientation between suppliers and distributors. This construct was also shown to have a positive impact upon the level of trust and commitment within the relationship. These findings have significant managerial implications for the manner in which managerial decision makers are modelling the firm -customer relationship because trust and commitment are essential elements in the development and maintenance of such relationships. The theoretical and managerial implications discussed have highlighted the need for further studies because there are deficiencies in the marketing literature pertaining to this important construct. D

Market growth through mergers and acquisitions: The role of the relationship marketing manager in sustaining performance

“…These contracts are an important focus after an acquisition as previous explicit/implicit contracts developed by the RMM and their firms are highly significant in framing their new relationships and guiding their future behavior (Kingshott, 2006).…”

Psychological Contract in IT Outsourcing: A Systematic Literature Review

“…that are similar to ITO would have enabled us to cover a larger number of studies. For example, studies such as Kingshott [38] that investigated the impact PC had on trust and commitment levels between supplier and buyer relationships within the motor vehicle industry, has also been extensively cited in IS studies as well. Furthermore, covereage of the extensive management literature which has covered the PC in detail such as Argyris [39] would have also broadened the number of studies identified.…”

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“…in this regard, and based on the studies carried out by Kingshott (2006), commitment would be equivalent to relational quality because it would represent the importance of the relationship to each party.…”

“…The stability of the relationship as a result is identified by the long-term orientation or relational quality, understood as the importance given by the buyer to maintaining the relationship or relational commitment (Kingshott 2006), resulting from the enhancement of long-term results derived from the relationship (Celuch et al 2006). The long-term results of the relationship depend on the present and future benefits that the parties obtain (Chang 2005) in terms of technical-economic and socio-relational aspects (Celuch et al 2006).…”