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This study seeks to provide insights concerning the predictors of industrial importers' commitment to their foreign suppliers in a relationship paradigm involving an emerging market.

Integrating a review of the relevant importer-exporter and distributor-supplier relationship literature, a model of importer commitment was developed. Based on survey data obtained from industrial importers for an emerging market, CFA and SEM were employed to test the proposed theoretical model.

The findings significantly support the theoretical framework and most of the hypothesized path relationships in the model. Predictors such as importers' knowledge significantly and positively influenced commitment through the intermediation of trust, supplier opportunism had a significant and negative effect on importer commitment, again through the intermediation of trust, and transaction-specific investment had a direct effect on industrial importers' commitment. Supplier's opportunistic inclinations did not have a significant direct effect on the commitment of the importers.

This research only considers the views of industrial importers that limits generalization. The sample size, constrained by the total number of industrial importers in the country examined, was also somewhat of a limiting factor concerning SEM modeling.

This study suggests the factors that export managers need to consider in maintaining long-term relationship with their foreign buyers, while contributing to building the relationship through knowledge sharing and curbing opportunistic inclinations.

This paper examines the antecedents of trust and commitment in industrial importer and foreign supplier relationships in the context of an emerging market. Based on the earlier literature on B2B exchanges, the role of importers' knowledge in driving commitment through the intermediation of trust offers new insights. This is particularly important because the importers are experiencing unprecedented growth opportunities. Considering their need to make decisions quickly and gain advantages from suppliers, will they remain committed to a particular supplier? Or will their commitment be strengthened by gaining knowledge of the supplier? The tested model offers unique insights.

Drawing on Foa and Foa’s elaboration of social exchange theory, the authors propose that buyers reciprocate perceived commitment on the part of the salesperson and supplier with commitment on their own parts because of strengthening of the relationship’s tacit governance mechanism – cooperative norms.

This study uses data from 155 buyers doing business with a multinational supplier. The buyers were from firms generating less than $100,000 in billings. The salesforce of the supplier firm sponsoring the research is responsible for account management and communicating directly with buyers.

Buyers, who feel that their suppliers are providing a symbolic, long-term, particularistic benefit (commitment), respond with their own strengthened commitment to the relationship; this mutualism is explained entirely by the mediating effect of the relationship’s cooperative norms. Where buyers perceive generally favorable treatment (satisfaction), without these three qualities, their own reciprocal commitment increases directly and cooperative norms play no part. The results also demonstrate the transition of buyer perceptions of the salesperson as they develop into beliefs about the selling firm as a whole.

Drawing on the “reciprocation-in-kind” principle, supplier firms seeking long-term, open-ended commitment from their customers should cultivate it via similarly long-term and open-ended commitments of their own. Attention must be given to the unwritten, often unstated “rules of the road” for business relationships, as these rules represent the mechanism through which investments in long-term, profitable partnerships bear fruit.

The conceptual model draws on and empirically tests Foa and Foa’s framework within social exchange theory to predict what form of buyer reciprocation will result, based on the characteristics of perceived seller-provided benefits. This study illustrates that the tacit governance structure of a B2B relationship – its cooperative norms – plays a critical role in the strength of a buyer’s commitment to its supplier.

The purpose of this paper is to explore international buyer–supplier relationships in an emerging developing country context. The study examines a number of factors derived from internationalization process (IP) theory and their impacts in a novel research setting. The relational variables of trust and commitment, and their drivers, are integrated into a model examining importers’ perspectives of their supplier relationships.

This study applied a sequential methodological approach. Initially, a conceptual framework was developed from qualitative research and then quantitatively validated using structural equation modeling (SEM). The data for this study were collected conducting in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires. For empirical validation, the SEM technique was applied to assess the proposed model.

Importing firm managers perceived that the commitment of their suppliers bolstered their trust in the relationship, this contrasts with the conventional contention of a reverse relationship. The findings confirm cultural similarity facilitates communication, leading to increased knowledge and experience of importers, thereby contributing to an enhanced commitment to build trust in the relationship.

The conceptual framework developed in this study provides a direction to manage and enhance understanding of IP and relationship outcome. The findings have strategic implications for practicing managers in developing and supporting their importer–foreign supplier relationships.

This study is unique in assessing as well as validating key constructs of IP theory in an international exchange (importer–supplier) relationship. The study offers completely a new insight in relation to applying IP theory’s relational perspectives.

Relationship satisfaction and commitment are two key constructs in the evolving paradigm of relationship marketing in business‐to‐business markets, and a substantial and growing literature exists on their antecedents and consequences, especially within the context of supplier‐retailer relationships. However, relatively little research has examined these constructs within the context of supplier‐manufacturing firm relationships in general, and foreign supplier‐manufacturing firm relationships in particular. Even fewer studies have examined the effects of suppliers’ marketing program variables on relationship satisfaction and commitment in such contexts. The author examines how foreign suppliers’ marketing program variables affect Saudi industrial buyers’ satisfaction and commitment to long‐term relationships with the suppliers. Results of a survey conducted among buyers for manufacturing establishments in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia indicate that only the product and price‐related variables of foreign suppliers’ marketing program variables are significantly related to the buyers’ relationship satisfaction and commitment. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are outlined and discussed.

The paper offers a viewpoint on the relevance of the underpinnings of the social exchange theory (SET) in understanding inter‐firm relationships, specifically with respect to outsourcing relationships in a Southeast Asian context.

The viewpoint is based on literature review on outsourcing trends, characteristics and underlying theories including the underpinnings of SET in combination with anecdotal accounts from practitioners in the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector as well as personal emic observations of management styles embedded within the socio‐cultural context of a developing country.

Management and outsourcing of contracts in a Southeast Asian context are usually done on a personal level with some leeway provided by top management. The reverse is true for developed countries where all processes and contracts need to be seen as just and transparent to stakeholders. Dominant theories identified with outsourcing generations seem to be embedded in management culture of developed countries which are largely influenced by the transaction cost economics theory and its extensions, the resource‐based view and the resource‐dependence view. By placing a caveat on generalizability, the paper opines that SET is still relevant in the Southeast Asian context.

As outsourcing characteristics have changed and evolved over the years, relationship models need to be reviewed and redefined to be in congruence with the changes that are occurring. The Southeast Asian socio‐cultural context can be a reference point for conceptualization of relationship models to understand E&E outsourcing relationships along global supply chains.

This paper aims to consider the nature and role of commitment in delivering value in customer–supplier relationships by developing and testing a model of relationship cooperativeness.

Data were collected using an extended version of the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP2) Group’s instrument. Pre-qualified managers largely self-completed the survey. Model associations were tested via regression and causal path analysis.

Various aspects of commitment play differing roles in relationship development. The role of commitment was less than expected; the exception is value-based commitment which is strongly associated with value creation, conflict management, trust and cooperation.

Findings provide explanations for some inconsistencies in previous findings including reported relationships between trust, cooperation and commitment. The composition of the commitment construct(s) strongly influences relationship processes.

There are various kinds of commitment to build and multiple pathways to levering this into more effective relationships. In addition, an important part of these findings is strong indications that illustrate what the nature of ineffective commitment-building paths is likely to be. This is extremely important for managers in guiding deployment of relationship management resources and developing relationship management practice.

The regulation of close business-to-business relationships remains an important issue, and the ways in which commitment can be appropriately extended are an important part of this.

This work focuses on the components of commitment in ways that previous work has not. The centrality of commitment in relationship value creation – beyond increased sales and revenue and predictability – is highlighted, and there is considerable extension to the understanding of the nature of this process.

Explores the role of commitment in maintaining relationship bonds even when the level of satisfaction with specific transactions is low. A strong relationship can exist between these professional service providers and their clients even when participants do not feel positive about their interactions. A study of the factors which influence accountant choice and switching behavior shows a great reluctance by clients to alter the existing client/accountant relationship. Accountants′ clients are often unwilling to explore alternative service options even if dissatisfied. A number of different bases of commitment emerge from analysis of both the factors which might lead to a change in accountant and attitudes towards the current provider.

This research blends perspectives of the Eastern phenomenon of guanxi with the more Western perspectives of relationship marketing and customer centricity. Extending scholarship on guanxi in marketing (e.g. Park and Luo, 2001; Sheu and Hu, 2009; Luo et al., 2008; Fowler and Reisenwitz, 2014), the objective is to highlight the indirect role of customer centricity (i.e. how visible or central it is for the business partner to communicate with/have information sharing with), for firms in regions with a prevalence of guanxi.

The empirical model is tested in context of global marketing in the business-to-business (B2B) logistics industry (n = 508). A total of 508 global logistics employees and managers with experience in global business participated in the survey in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis with multi-group analyses.

Customer centricity intensifies positive outcomes of guanxi prevalence. Specifically, a high level of customer centricity strengthens established associations among guanxi prevalence, trust, relationship commitment and firm performance.

While most work on guanxi has a focus in China, this research focuses on Taiwan. While building on a wealth of literature, relatively less work has focused on customer centricity.

Three types of industrial buyer-seller relational process models are available: joining theory, stage theory, and state theory. However, historically, these models have developed based on the knowledge and cultural context of the Western world. Several researchers note that national culture may have an impact on international industrial buyer-seller relationships. Including culture in the models is highly important, especially as the business environment is increasingly more global and different countries have different business cultures. The goal of this paper is to define the most suitable industrial buyer-seller relational process models for describing relationships in various contexts. The paper includes a through literature review and a single case study in order to reach this objective. A new state theory model evolved during the research. It consists of two beginning states: searching and starting; four purely middles states: constant/static, decline, growth, and troubled; and a purely end state: termination. The state of dormant/inert is both a middle state and an end state, that is, when the relational actors are not in contact does not mean that the relationship has ended, but instead, for example, new legislation may have been implemented, which requires the actors to evaluate their relationship and its future. A relationship goes through the two beginning states in the order mentioned above, but after that, any state may occur.

This study aims to examine how the widespread adoption of digital technology (DT) in business-to-business (B2B) markets affects and, in particular, increases the velocity of relationship development over time.

A literature search was conducted to develop propositions concerning DT’s effect on the various stages of an existing B2B buyer-seller relationship development model. A group of 55 experienced practitioners was used to obtain reactions to the propositions.

DT affects buyer-seller relationship development by reducing the time needed to initiate and advance through sequential relationship stages. Agility in the decision-making process fosters stronger inter-firm relationships and influences other important attributes of B2B relationships, such as organizational commitment, organizational embeddedness, trust and value creation.

A broader, more diverse sample of commercial buyers and sellers is required to permit testing the generalizability of the study’s findings.

DT affects the speed and agility of B2B relationship formation regardless of stage. As DT evolves in the age of Industry 4.0, an understanding of the effects of DT will aid managers in assessing ways to leverage its potential and apply appropriate DT strategies throughout the B2B relationship process to capitalize on current and future business opportunities. Firms need to explore the positive and negative effects of the digital revolution on managers within their supply chain networks.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that specifically addresses DT’s impact during the specific stages of the relationship development process.