The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing

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The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing Journal of Marketing Robert M. Morgan & Shelby D. Hunt Purpose: * To attempt to prove the benefits of cooperation between competing firms in the same industry, which lead to more effective competition. * To show the presence of Relationship Commitment and Trust as Key Mediating Variables (KMV) as they bridge the gap between relationship antecedents (such as shared values, communication, and opportunistic behavior) and the outcomes (such as acquiescence, cooperation, and functional conflict) in order to build a functional cooperative relationship. Main Hypotheses: * There is a positive relationship between: 1. Relationship termination costs and relationship commitment (RC) 2. Relationship benefits and RC 3. Shared values and RC 4. Shared values and trust 5. Communication and trust 6. RC and acquiescence 7. RC and cooperation 8. Trust and RC 9. Trust and cooperation 10. Trust and functional conflict * There is a negative relationship between 11. Opportunistic behavior and trust 12. RC and propensity to leave 13. Trust and uncertainty Main Theory Used: The Commitment-Trust theory is being researched and tested on models placing trust and RC as key mediating variables in healthy business relationships (KMV Model). That is to say, there are no direct relationships between the antecedents and the outcomes of trust and RC and that they act as a filter producing positive and negative values amongst each interaction. The KMV model is used to show that healthy business relationships benefit (and in certain cases, suffer) from key characteristics of business practices as they relate to RC and Trust. A rival model is also presented which places trust and RC as precursors directly relating to the same

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