The article titled "Drivers of Trust in Relational Service Exchange: Understanding the Importance of Cross-Cultural Differences" by Professor Shainesh G, co-authored with Jan H. Schumann, Florian v. Wangenheim, Anne Stringfellow, Zhilin Yang, Sandra Praxmarer, Fernando R. Jiménez, Vera Blazevic, Randall M. Shannon, and Marcin Komor, published in the Journal of Service Research (JSR) November 2010 issue (Volume 13, Issue 4) was a finalist for the JSR's "Best Article" Award presented at the 20th Annual Frontiers in Service Conference, June 30 - July 3, 2011, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Abstract:
Customer trust is of vital importance for relationship marketing in services. Service providers increasingly market their services globally, yet few researchers have addressed differences in customer trust across cultures. Our research fills this void by proposing a model, based on existing trust literature, that suggests the overall feeling of trust in the service provider depends on customers' beliefs about service providers' ability, benevolence, predictability, and integrity. The model, tested in a banking context with data from 2,284 customers in 11 countries, explains trust well across culturally diverse countries. The results of a hierarchical linear model, however, show that customers differ in the way they build trust in their service provider across cultures. Moderating effects of the cultural values of the target group largely explain this variation. Only the effect of ability on trust is robust across countries. Global service firms should consider all four trust drivers when striving to build trust. The emphasis they put on each of these trust drivers, however, should differ across countries. When applying these principles to the design of marketing activities or market segmentation, marketing managers should collect data on the cultural values of their specific target groups in particular countries or cultural milieus.
G. Shainesh is Associate Professor in the Marketing area at IIMB. His areas of research and teaching are Customer Relationship Management, Services Marketing and Brand Management. He has conducted research and teaching assignments at the Audencia Nantes School of Management (France), Bocconi University (Milan), Curtin University of Technology (Perth), Goteborg University (Sweden), St. Gallen University (Switzerland), MCI Innsbruck & Vienna University (Austria), and the American University of Armenia (Yerevan). He has consulted for several organizations in the public, non-profit and corporate sector including software, engineering and service firms.
The article titled "Drivers of Trust in Relational Service Exchange: Understanding the Importance of Cross-Cultural Differences" by Professor Shainesh G, co-authored with Jan H. Schumann, Florian v. Wangenheim, Anne Stringfellow, Zhilin Yang, Sandra Praxmarer, Fernando R. Jiménez, Vera Blazevic, Randall M. Shannon, and Marcin Komor, published in the Journal of Service Research (JSR) November 2010 issue (Volume 13, Issue 4) was a finalist for the JSR's "Best Article" Award presented at the 20th Annual Frontiers in Service Conference, June 30 - July 3, 2011, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Abstract:
Customer trust is of vital importance for relationship marketing in services. Service providers increasingly market their services globally, yet few researchers have addressed differences in customer trust across cultures. Our research fills this void by proposing a model, based on existing trust literature, that suggests the overall feeling of trust in the service provider depends on customers' beliefs about service providers' ability, benevolence, predictability, and integrity. The model, tested in a banking context with data from 2,284 customers in 11 countries, explains trust well across culturally diverse countries. The results of a hierarchical linear model, however, show that customers differ in the way they build trust in their service provider across cultures. Moderating effects of the cultural values of the target group largely explain this variation. Only the effect of ability on trust is robust across countries. Global service firms should consider all four trust drivers when striving to build trust. The emphasis they put on each of these trust drivers, however, should differ across countries. When applying these principles to the design of marketing activities or market segmentation, marketing managers should collect data on the cultural values of their specific target groups in particular countries or cultural milieus.
G. Shainesh is Associate Professor in the Marketing area at IIMB. His areas of research and teaching are Customer Relationship Management, Services Marketing and Brand Management. He has conducted research and teaching assignments at the Audencia Nantes School of Management (France), Bocconi University (Milan), Curtin University of Technology (Perth), Goteborg University (Sweden), St. Gallen University (Switzerland), MCI Innsbruck & Vienna University (Austria), and the American University of Armenia (Yerevan). He has consulted for several organizations in the public, non-profit and corporate sector including software, engineering and service firms.