Column 11 · Relationships and Customer Equity · Era 4, Orientation and Relationships (1990s)
Commitment-Trust
Implementation, process · Landmark · Cluster IV, Customer and Brand Assets
Description
The commitment-trust theory holds that relationship commitment and trust are the key mediating variables through which termination costs, relationship benefits, shared values, communication, and opportunistic behavior produce cooperation and other relational outcomes.
Managerial Implications
Relationship commitment and trust are what make partners cooperate, stay, and resist attractive alternatives. Both are built by shared values, communication, and low opportunism, and eroded by surprises and self-serving behavior. Managers should invest in transparency and consistency with key customers and partners, because trust converts into lower monitoring costs and higher tolerance of mistakes, and takes far longer to rebuild than to lose.