Phillip Samouel

Cognitive and behavioural determinants of trust in small and medium‐sized enterprises

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic examination of the importance of trust‐developing constructs and the impact of trust on long‐term orientation within the small and medium‐sized enterprises (SME) domain.Design/methodology/approach – A theoretically grounded model has been developed that comprises three cognitive (reputation, skill and transaction specific investments) and three behavioural (information exchange, coercive power and flexibility) antecedents of trust, which in turn is posted to be a determinant of long‐term orientation. The model has been tested using 229 responses obtained through a postal survey carried out in the UK electrical and electronic industry.Findings – With the exception of the skill to trust, all other hypothesised relationships have been supported. In relative terms, reputation followed by flexibility have been found to be the most important determinants of trust.Research limitations/implications – The moderating impact of company size and length of...

Internal psychological versus external market-driven determinants of the amount of consumer information search amongst online shoppers

Household penetration of the Internet continues to rise alongside increases in retail websites. A significant body of literature now explores online consumer behaviour including information search. This study extends the existing understanding of information search into the online environment and focuses upon the factors that drive the amount of Online Consumer Information Search (OCIS). A theoretical model is presented and validated via an empirical investigation amongst experienced online shoppers. Findings of the study indicate that internal cognitive processing and motivational factors may have a greater impact upon the amount of online search than external market-driven factors such as cost of search.

Does time impact relational norms in bilateral exchange? The small business case

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess empirically the presence of relational norms and the effect of time during the “transitory” and “established” phases of bilateral exchange for small business enterprises. Relationship development has recently become a central research focus in business management literature and is currently gaining more prominence when addressing the small firm sector. To‐date conceptual work has concentrated on the development of business‐to‐business relationships through sequential time dependent stages, including empirical work on the dimensions of relational norms. However, little attention has been given to role of time in this process of relationship building.Design/methodology/approach – The commercial setting is the UK brewing industry which is characterised by a few large suppliers (breweries) and many small retail buyers (public houses). The focal dyad for the study is the brewery‐public house relationship. Data was gathered through a telephone survey to: confirm ...

Vertical Control and Performance: The Role of Power, Relational Norms and Transaction Cost Analysis in Distribution Channels

Marketeers have argued that organisations are concerned with vertical control along the marketing channel to avoid competition and to improve perfOrmance by rationalising costs arising from both production and market search. The general proposal offered by this study is that within the transaction cost framework, the existence of relational norms between the trading parties :facilitates control over business operations. This vertical control, in tum, enhances performance of the dyad.

An Exploration of the Role of Motivation in the Information Search Stage of e-Shopping.

The pervasive presence of the Internet, and its interface of the World Wide Web (WWW), is now influencing all facets of our social life including consumer shopping behavior. The capability that the WWW affords to consumers to search for information and/or make purchase transactions is driving an emerging area of research that seeks to understand consumer behavior in relation to online shopping. The Internet enables the consumer to access information about a product category in both depth and breadth and to store this information for future reference in a way that hitherto has not been possible. Thus, the interaction between buyer and seller has been changed and an understanding of consumer online pre-purchase information search is critical to the effective development of marketing mix strategies for the e-marketer today.