The Determinants of Local Suppliers’ Trust Towards

Authors: En Xie Yuan Li Zhongfeng Su HockHai Teo

Publish Date: 2010/09/16

Volume: 50, Issue: 5, Pages: 585-611

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Abstract

This study examines how local suppliers’ trust towards their foreign buyers is developed in international buyersupplier cooperation By identifying cognition and affectbased trust as two primary dimensions of interfirm trust in international buyersupplier cooperation we investigate how the two types of trust are determined by structural and social exchange attributes and whether the two types of trust are complementaryA survey and analysis of 155 buyersupplier relationships between Chinese local suppliers and foreign buyers indicates that opening information exchange and institutionalization of cooperation have positive influence on cognitionbased trust while interfirm diversity exerts a mixed impact on cognitionbased trust In addition socialized interaction and assistance offered by foreign firms are strongly related to affectbased trust We also find that Chinese firms’ cognition and affectbased trust towards their foreign partners are complementaryWe thank the editors and reviewers for their helpful suggestions and Yadong Luo for his insightful comments to improve our work This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China 70802048 and the New Century Excellent Talent Program NCET10645

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