The critical role of trust in obtaining retailer support for a supplier's strategic organizational change

It is well established in the marketing literature that the bond of trust is a cornerstone of interorganizational relationships. However, trust is considered to be context-specific, as it is difficult to endow on new relationships. We argue that the existing trust between organizations not only survives tough and shifting times, but also helps steer those organizations through such trying periods. We investigated a context where a major change was instituted in a cooperative marketing channel. Here, the supplier (the focal channel member) had to convince the other channel members (the retailers) about the impending merger, which may or may not bring benefits to all. We empirically show the existing trust in the supplier was a major determinant of the support for the merger and inducing the post-merger trust in and commitment to the changed supplier. (C) 2003 by New York University. Published by Elsevier. All rights reserved.