Cognitive and affective trust between Australian exporters and their overseas buyers

Andrew J. Zur, Melbourne Business School
Civilai Terawatanavong, Monash University
Cynthia Webster, Macquarie University

Abstract

This study examines the impact of trust on relational exchanges between buyers and sellers in an international context. Trust is considered as two separate dimensions: cognitive trust and affective trust. Data were collected from Australian exporters with regards to their overseas buyers. The empirical results from the structural equation modelling (SEM) show that cognitive trust and affective trust are distinct dimensions. Buyer reputation and total interdependence are common antecedents to both dimensions of trust. Perceived cultural distance is the unique antecedent to cognitive trust while shared goals is the unique antecedent to affective trust. The results indicate that international relational outcomes benefit from the presence of both cognitive and affective trust. In other words, when exporters exhibit both dimensions of trust, they are more willing to be flexible and report higher levels of satisfaction with export performance.