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244 Pavlou
obligations (Anderson and Weitz, 1989), behave in a predictable manner, act fairly
and not take unfair advantage of another firm, even given the chance (Anderson and
Narus, 1990). Credibility arises from the belief that the other firm is honest and
competent (Anderson and Narus, 1990), whereas benevolence arises from the
belief that a firm is genuinely interested in the other firm’s welfare and would seek
mutual gains. Therefore, there is a broad consensus that there are two distinct
dimensions of trust: credibility and benevolence (Ganesan, 1994), who investigated
them independently and concluded that they did demonstrate different relationships
with other variables. Credibility deals with predictability, acknowledging contracts
and fulfilling the requirements of an agreement, while benevolence deals with
expectations that a firm will not act opportunistically, even given the chance.
Therefore, this research views two distinct trust dimensions: impersonal trust or
credibility, which is based on the extent to which a firm believes that the other firm
has the honesty and expertise to perform a transaction reliably, and familiarity trust
or benevolence, which is based on the extent to which a firm believes that the other
firm has intentions beneficial to both firms, even when new conditions without prior
commitments arise.
The proposed view of trust readily corresponds to extant conceptualizations
of trust. For example, Zaheer et al. (1998) viewed interfirm trust as three
components–predictability, reliability and fairness. Impersonal trust encompasses
predictability and reliability, while familiarity trust is equivalent to fairness. In
addition, the two-dimensional view of trust is comparable to the three forms of trust
defined by Sako and Helper (1998). First, contractual trust, which refers to the
other firm being honest and fulfilling the explicit and implicit requirements of the
contractual agreement, and second, competence trust, which pertains to whether
the other firm is capable of fulfilling the contract, encompass impersonal trust.
According to Sako and Helper, competence and contractual trust are often
indistinguishable since contract default might be due to either dishonesty or mere
inability. On the other side, goodwill trust, which relates to a firm’s open commitment
to take initiatives for mutual benefit while withholding from opportunistic
behavior refers to familiarity trust. In sum, there is a hierarchy of trust, where fulfilling
a minimal set of obligations constitutes credibility (impersonal trust), and honoring
a broader set constitutes benevolence (familiarity trust).
B2B exchanges reduce the need for familiarity trust by structuring the
transactional context in such a way that opportunism becomes irrational, while
cooperation becomes a mutually beneficial solution. In this context, B2B exchanges
compensate for the low levels of familiarity trust, which is difficult to accomplish
among a great number of firms, by promoting impersonal trust based on credibility.
In addition, transactional arrangements aim to predict most probable unforeseen
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