Organizational Buyers’ Perceived Trust of Salespeople: A U.S. and South American Comparison

Abstract

Trust has been shown to have a significant impact on buyers’ evaluation and choice of suppliers in organizational purchase decisions. These findings, however, have typically been drawn from U.S.-based samples. Using samples of organizational buyers from the U.S. and South America, this article examines whether country-of-origin plays a role in buyers’ perception of trust. A multidimensional measure of perceived trust was employed. Results show that South American buyers exhibit less perceived trust of salespeople than those buyers in the U. S. sample. In both samples, trust of the salesperson was the strongest factor amongst those salespeople that received orders. South American buyers were found to be much less trusting of the companies they do business with which suggests that personal relationships may be more important.