| Author: | Xu, Yanli |
| Title: | The effects of online B2B communication on firm performance : the mediating role of trust |
| Advisors: | Gu, Flora (MM) |
| Degree: | D.B.A. |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Subject: | Business communication Relationship marketing Intercultural communication Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Business |
| Pages: | 131 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | In the semiconductor industry, uncertainty exists as a result of the unstable international situation, sluggish demand growth, and high inventories. Over the past few years, it has become increasingly common for organizations, especially those focused on B2B electronic products, to replace different types of well-known branded products with equivalents from Chinese brands. In such an environment, enterprises are subject to a variety of pressures. The pressure on front-line sales staff increases in this context, as well as the difficulty of retaining customers. Communication between the two parties thus becomes increasingly important. This situation will directly affect Chinese entrepreneurs’ strategies for long-term and short-term cooperation with international customers. It is imperative to discuss customer retention rates in case to gain a comprehensive understanding for the current state of the semiconductor industry market and supply chain, explore the challenges and bottlenecks associated with industry development, boost industry competitiveness, and increase corporate profitability. The purpose of my research is to advance a better understanding of the contribution of different types of online B2B communication and trust in the buyer’s repeat purchase intention, as well as how communication enhances the seller’s and the buyer’s intention to cooperate in research and development to improve Chinese suppliers’ own performance. The research objectives are: (1) to understand the ways in which online customers can be retained using different communication styles through online B2B business; (2) to identify the effects of different communication styles on different types of trust from international customers, thus affecting the customers’ repeat purchase intention in short-time cooperation and research and development cooperation intention in long-time cooperation; and (3) to understand how the cultural distance between customers and suppliers affects different communication styles focusing on customer retention through cross-cultural trading. Through my study, I respond to the invitation to participate in the "internationalization of trust research" by analyzing data collected from 200 international buyers from 24 different regions and countries. An examination of the performance-enhancing effects of benevolent trust and competence trust, as well as their antecedents, under varying degrees of cultural distance is conducted using archival sales records, survey data, and indicators of cultural distance. It is evident from my results that there is an immediate and strong impact of corporate-level trust, independent of the effect of trust of individual sales representatives, on improving performance indicators, including international buyers’ future purchase intentions and research and development cooperation intentions. Intriguing, cultural distance moderates task-oriented communication's effects on customer competence trust, as well as the effects on relation-oriented communication on the customer’s benevolence trust. Specifically, when there is a significant cultural distance between the supplier and the customer, task-oriented communication will not have the same positive effect on the customer’s competence trust, whereas relation-oriented communication will have a more positive effect on the customer’s benevolence trust. In my research, I provide empirical evidence that supports the proposed conceptual model. By focusing on the role of trust mechanisms, my study contributes to a deeper understanding of how to manage buyer–seller relationships in order to increase firm profit growth and cooperation intentions. My study shows that the relation-oriented communication method is more effective when the supplier and the customer have a large cultural distance, making it easier to gain the customer’s benevolence trust. As a result, standardized knowledge-based sales approaches will be effective if the international buyers are historically similar and homogeneous to those of the seller. It is more appropriate to use a human touch when selling to foreign buyers if the seller and the foreign buyers do not share a common cultural background. By building on the above ideas, while suppliers want to gain trust in the ability of customers, the task-oriented communication method is more effective when there is a low cultural distance between the international supplier and the international customer. An effective integration of the characteristics of the communication style is important, because the communication style and the cultural origin of the international buyer enhances the overall value of the seller as well as the seller’s performance. From another point of view, it facilitates the reduction of transaction costs, while enhancing the level of mutual trust between cooperative enterprises can be achieved by strengthening the trust of sellers. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7184.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.19 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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