Summary of related empirical studies in the literature
| Ethical sales behaviour and trust | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authors (year) | Time period | Scope | Country | Method(s) | Results | Limitations and future |
| Vitell and Festervand (1987) | – | To examine the views of business ethics and various business practices. In addition to identifying various sources of ethical conflict, current business practices are also examined with respect to how ethical or unethical each is believed to be | The USA | • Mail survey • 258 business executives of manufacturing firms located in the Southeast • 118 were returned | Results outline executive responses to four ethical business situations | Research is needed to determine whether small firms are more likely to engage in unethical practices than large firms |
| Trawick et al. (1991) | – | To investigate the effect of perceived unethical salesperson behaviour on intentions to choose a supplier | The USA | • Mail survey • 187 two purchasing management association groups--one in the southeastern United States and the other in the north-central U.S • Five-point scales • Pearson correlation coefficients • The regression analyses • List-wise deletion (SPSS) resulted in a sample size of 135 | As salesperson behaviour is perceived as more unethical, the purchaser is less likely to choose the firm that the salesperson represents | - |
| Bejou et al. (1998) | 1992 | To examine the role of trust, ethics and knowledge in supplementing sales personnel’s level of customer orientation and selling orientation as explanatory | The USA | • A two-stage area telephone survey • 568 consumers • Seven point scales • Stepwise OLS regression and the standardised regression coefficients | Regarding the ethics variable, evidence is rather more ambiguous; ethics appears to be correlated with trust, but is also relationship satisfaction | The relatively high levels of satisfaction during the intervening stages may account for the lack of correlation when measured using linear scales. Further research to explore this possibility would be useful |
| Kennedy et al. (2001) | – | To assess the role of trust in business relationships, with a focus on the characteristics of the salesperson, manufacturer and the product ownership experience that contributes to this relationship | The USA | • A mailed survey • 786 first-time buyers of Saturn and Toyota vehicles • Path analysis via LISREL | The buyer-seller trust results from salesperson competence, low-pressure selling tactics, service quality, manufacturer ethical concern and a general tendency to trust others | Another study could evaluate the types of signals that customers use to decide how ethically a company conducts its business |
| Román (2003) | – | To represent an initial step in analysing the role of ethical sales behaviour, as perceived by bank customers, in developing and maintaining relationships with customers | Spain | • Preliminary versions of the questionnaire were administered to a convenient sample of 249 consumers • In-depth interviews with 10 financial services consumers • 630 telephone interviews • 210 final observations • 10-point multiple-item Likert questions • Confirmatory factor analysis in LISREL 8.30 • Structural equation modelling | The salesperson’s ethical behaviour leads to higher customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty to the bank that the salesperson represents | Further studies of ethical sales behaviour could investigate the construct from the salesperson’s perspective. Additional research on sales ethics could also consider the effect of variables such as the customer’s industry knowledge/familiarity and the extent of the relationship, both in terms of time, purchase frequency and volume (volume would refer to financial maturity in the banking industry), that may moderate the effect of ethical sales behaviours on relationship outcomes |
| Román and Ruiz (2005) | To analyse the effects of perceived ethical sales behaviour on customer satisfaction, trust and commitment to the salesperson. To analyse the role of the customer’s attitude towards the industry as a moderator of these effects | Spain | • In-depth interviews • 10 financial services consumers • 630 telephone interviews • Convenient sample of 249 consumers • 210 final observations of salespeople • 10-point Likert scale • Structural equation modelling • LISREL 8.30 | The perceived ethical sales behaviour plays a major role in affecting the quality of the buyer-seller relationship, as it has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, trust and commitment to the salesperson. In addition, satisfaction with and trust in the salesperson positively influence customer commitment to the salesperson. Finally, perceived ethical sales behaviour has a stronger effect on customer satisfaction with the salesperson when the customer’s attitude towards the industry in which the salesperson works is more negative than when it is more positive | Future research dealing with ethical behaviour and trust should measure trust more validly, incorporating measures used in the relationship marketing literature | |
| Pučėtaitė et al. (2010) | – | To explore the interrelations between organisational trust and ethics management tools as well as ethical organisational practices in a post-socialist context | Lithuania | • An electronic and paper survey • 519 respondents from 44 companies which had joined the UN Global Compact initiative by May 2007 • Regression analysis | A significant dependence of organisational trust on ethical organisational practices has been established | The studied relationships need further research considering other characteristics of the represented organisations, e.g. the reported size, the sector (public/private) in which they operate and the origin of capital |
| Salminen and Ikola-Norrbacka (2010) | Spring 2008 | To present an empirical study and contribute to the discussion of administrative ethics and integrity by investigating three ethical issues, namely trust, good governance and unethical actions in the Finnish public administration | Finland | • National Citizen Survey • 5,000 Finnish citizens • Statistics program SPSS | The strength of the Finnish society concerning trust is that the citizens feel confident in public sector organisations and societal institutions. Even though serious corruption cases have remained few in Finland, there is still work to do to control the situation. Ignorant and bad treatment of citizens occurs mostly in individual service encounters, it does not reflect the whole of the administration's ethics | Further research is needed in order to investigate the societal background factors that can explain the different findings from the research questions. Also, further research is required to compare the results of different countries |
| Colwell et al. (2011) | – | To explore the impact of ethical code enforcement on inter-organisational relationships | Canada | • Mail survey packages • 158 purchasing managers across three manufacturing industries • Structural equation modelling | Results confirm the connection between ethical code enforcement and continuance commitment but suggest that a supplier’s enforcement of ethical codes matters less when switching suppliers is perceived as too costly. Higher switching costs weakened the relationship between supplier-enforced ethical codes of conduct and continuance commitment | This study shows how switching costs may limit the extent to which buyers consider supplier enforcement of ethical codes of conduct. This research is of importance to ethics researchers and practitioners as it increases understanding of ethical behaviour between organisations |
| Singh et al. (2012) | – | To analyse the relationship between perceived ethicality at a corporate level, and brand trust, brand affect and brand loyalty at a product level | Spain | • An online consumer panel • 4,027 Spanish consumers • Structural equations modelling | There is a positive relationship between the perceived ethicality of a brand and both brand trust and brand affect. Brand affect also positively influences brand trust. Further, brand trust and affect show a positive relationship with brand loyalty | Since self-reported measurements of loyalty may not be representative of real behaviour, to further demonstrate the impact of an ethical image, it would be interesting to consider objective measurements such as financial performance, market shares and related metrics such as outcome variables and CSR investments, and other company inputs such as antecedent variables |
| Tuan (2013) | November 2011and April 2012 | To examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences trust, which engenders the chain of effects from upward influence behaviour through organisational health to knowledge sharing | Vietnam | • 1,028 shipping companies listed in the 2012 Vietnam Trade Directory • LISREL 8.52 | The findings offered a model of organisational health and its levers, such as CSR, trust and upward influence behaviour. Ethical CSR was found to nurture high trust in the organisation | The research model should be retested in other manufacturing and service industries, especially such service industries as health-care services, where upward influence strategies for adopting technological innovation are necessary |
| Schwepker and Schultz (2013) | – | To examine how customer-oriented selling is linked to two important antecedents – unethical intention and the trust of salespeople in their manager | The USA | • An electronic mail survey • 345 business-to-business sales professionals • Structural equation modelling | Support was shown for a negative relationship between unethical intention and both trust in managers and customer-oriented selling. Interestingly, this sample did not support the proposed negative relationship between trust in managers and customer-oriented selling | Future research should study various variables impacting moral judgment and ethical behaviours. A subset of managerial trust-building behaviours and ethical intention would also make valuable contributions to the understanding of sales management/salesperson interactions |
| Carter et al. (2014) | 2009 | To test the relative influence of trust vs switching costs on e-loyalty for e-service providers. To examine whether trust moderates the relationship between switching costs and e-loyalty. To propose that in the presence of high customer trust, e-service providers should have less need to rely on switching costs as a driver of e-loyalty | –– | • A web-based survey • 299 experienced repeat users of online travel services • Structural equation modelling | Trust is a more important predictor of e-loyalty than switching costs. In addition, the impact of switching costs on e-loyalty depends on the level of trust felt by customers | Despite this study’s finding that trust does not prime a person’s overall perceptions of switching costs, one might argue that trust is not necessarily distinct from the first-order relational facets of switching costs. For example, trust might directly affect perceived costs associated with ending a relationship with an e-service provider (i.e. trust increases the emotional discomfort associated with switching) |
| Ou et al. (2015) | – | To investigate the influence of ethical sales behaviour on relationship quality and its consequences in the context of telemarketing to identify the complex nature of relationship marketing | Taiwan | • Observations survey • 312 qualified customers from financial institutions • Structural equation modelling | Ethical sales behaviour components, that is, avoiding overharvest, security, honesty, privacy and non-harassment, have significant effects on relationship quality. Satisfactory relationship quality has positive effects on relationship commitment and customer loyalty | Will a higher corporate ethical standard be associated with better customers’ ethical sales perceptions, and hence enhance relationship quality? Further investigation is required to answer these research questions |
| Ha and Nam (2016) | On 19 November 2012 to 20 January 2013 | To analyse managers’ ethical judgments in supply chain management. It investigated the influence of those judgments on trust and collaboration in supplier relationships | South Korea | • The e-mail or regular mail survey • 341 managers of large companies and SMEs working in SCM • Structural equation modelling | The managers’ ethical judgments in bidding/contracting, information management and inventory management significantly increase trust, which in turn increases supply chain collaboration | As studies have argued that ethical judgment is a critical antecedent of ethical behaviour, future studies should examine how managers’ ethical judgments affect ethical behaviours in the supply chain and how ethical decision-making influences SCM |
| Diallo and Lambey-Checchin (2017) | – | To investigate the influence that consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics have on their responses (trust and loyalty) when retailers either create social discount spaces (integrated or collaborative) or do not | France | • Online (Google Docs) survey • 689 consumers of different retail companies • The partial least squares (PLS) path modelling | The consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics have positive effects on consumer loyalty, both directly and through consumer trust, as well as positive, strong influences on the retailer’s corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation. Moreover, consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics exert a stronger effect on consumer trust in integrated social discount spaces. However, social discount practices do not affect the link between such perceptions and loyalty | Although this study distinguished CSR from ethical perceptions, it treated it as a whole construct, not a composite one. Thus, this study cannot specify the effects of different dimensions of CSR activities (e.g. economic, social and environmental) on consumer trust and loyalty |
| Park et al. (2017) | – | To identify the congruency between consumer values and the goals of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and corporate ethical standards as the two main determinants of CSR quality and commitment. It further investigates how consumer perceptions of CSR shaped by these two factors increase loyalty | South Korea | • Online survey • 931 valid responses from retail consumers • Seven-point Likert scale • Structural equation modelling | The higher ethical standards lead consumers to perceive that the company is committed to its CSR activities. The company's CSR commitment induces greater satisfaction with and trust in the company and its services, ultimately encouraging consumers to remain loyal | Variables such as corporate reputation, perceived risk and individual differences among consumers (e.g. age, gender and education) are known to influence how consumers make purchase decisions. Therefore, incorporating the potential moderating effects of these variables into the analysis could extend the explanatory power of the findings |
| Agrawal (2017) | 2012–2013 | To explore the effects of ethical climate types on trust in management using Victor and Cullen’s framework, which is based on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and Gouldner’s sociocultural theory of organisations | India | • A sample of 270 employees from 10 organisations • Exploratory factor analysis • Hierarchical regression analysis | The ethical climates characterised by caring, laws and codes and rules and procedures are significant predictors of trust in management. However, no support was obtained for any impact of ethical climates emphasising company profit, self-interest or independence on trust in management | Future research should examine trust in management as a mediating or moderating variable in the relationship between ethical climates and other organisational variables such as commitment, citizenship behaviour or productivity |
| Javed et al. (2019) | – | To examine the ethical perceptions of Chinese consumers as an example of effective and efficient management of company/brand strategies in an economy experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth | China | • Central locations such as shopping malls, parks, cafeterias, university sitting areas and electronic markets survey • 328 university students • Seven-point Likert scale • Structural equation modelling | The ethical perceptions of consumers translate into purchase intentions, both at the corporate and product brand levels. Similarly, a significant direct relationship between CCI and brand trust reveals that corporate-level ethical identification is trivial to customers. However, these perceptions do apply to product brands under a corporate umbrella. Furthermore, moderating variables were found to be useful in identifying target groups of Chinese consumers who are receptive to ethical appeals | The product brands did not represent a wide variation in consumers’ perceived fit levels. A wider range, such as service brands, might offer deeper insights into the functioning of perceived ethicality. In addition, different moderating variables (e.g. social variables) can be used, and comparisons can be made between consumers in developed and developing countries |
| Mansouri et al. (2022) | – | To examine the relationship between sellers’ ethical behaviour and customer loyalty. The mediating effect of trust and satisfaction in the relationship between ethical behaviour and loyalty was also assessed in the sportswear industry | Iran | • Face-to-face survey • 265 consumers of sportswear stores • Structural equation modelling | There is a significant influence between sellers’ ethical behaviour and consumers’ loyalty. Also, satisfaction and trust mediate the relationship between sellers’ ethical behaviour and consumers’ loyalty Trust is also found to be the most proximal antecedent to customer loyalty | Sellers’ ethical behaviour, customers’ satisfaction, trust and loyalty can co-evolve over time. Repeated data collection would be particularly relevant when examining consumer response to a new brand or product that lacks extensive customer history or other external quality markers (e.g. positive word of mouth from existing customers) |
| Trust and switching costs | ||||||
| Aydin and Özer (2005) | – | To examine the relationships between these factors and customer loyalty, and the relationships among these factors in the Turkish GSM sector | Turkey | • 1,662 mobile phone users in the biggest cities in Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmit and Bursa) • Structural equation modelling | Trust in the operator relates positively and significantly with perceived switching costs | This paper may guide future research, as the relationships between each switching cost dimension and other variables (customer satisfaction, loyalty and trust) and the significance of these relationships have been examined in this study. As there are simultaneous correlations based on cause-effect relationships between the variables studied here, relationships should be tested using the structural equation modelling technique. Future research could contribute to the literature by developing a multidimensional measurement model of switching costs and implementation in different sectors |
| Aydin et al. (2005) | – | To measure the effects of customer satisfaction and trust on customer loyalty, and the direct and indirect effect of “switching cost” on customer loyalty | Turkey | • 1,950 GSM users in four Turkish cities • Moderated regression analysis | The perceived switching cost moderates the relationship between trust in the service provider and customer loyalty | Future research might expand the data base, measure the sub-dimensions of switching cost and examine their moderating effects, simultaneously examine all the effects of these variables on loyalty, and apply the hypotheses and models developed here to other market sectors |
| Platonova et al. (2008) | – | To test a model reflecting a system of interrelations among patient loyalty, trust and satisfaction as they are related to patients’ intentions to stay with a primary care physician (PCP) and recommend the doctor to other people | The USA | • A survey • 554 patients of two internal medicine outpatient clinics • Structural equation modelling | Patient trust, satisfaction and loyalty are strong and significant predictors of patients’ intentions to stay with the doctor and to recommend the PCP to others | Further research should focus on strategies that would facilitate strengthening and helping primary care doctors develop trust and good personal relationships with their patients |
| El-Manstrly et al. (2011) | To further explore the links between trust, switching costs and service loyalty by examining the relative effect of trust and switching costs on attitudinal and behavioural loyalty | United Kingdom | • 290 retail banking customers • Regression models | The key drivers of attitudinal loyalty are trust and relational switching costs and the key drivers for behavioural loyalty are trust relational switching costs and attitudinal loyalty | Trust and customer-perceived value could be manipulated while switching costs are measured. As the current model focuses on selected moderators (i.e. switching costs), future research should examine other moderators that may affect the strength of the relationships between trust, customer-perceived value and loyalty, such as channel type, expertise and alternative attractiveness | |
| Yen et al. (2011) | – | This study seeks to extend current research by testing a framework for understanding the impact of perceived suppliers’ willingness for customisation, effective communication and trust regarding perceived switching costs | Taiwan | • A mail survey • 281 buyers and purchasing supervisors in these Taiwanese-listed electronic manufacturing firms • Structural equation modelling | The perceived trust contributes to perceived switching costs. The perceived willingness of a supplier to customise for a buyer can indirectly impact perceived switching costs by way of perceived trust towards the supplier. Furthermore, analysis of the direct and indirect effects reveals that effective communication plays a dominant role and significantly influences trust and perceived switching costs | Further research should, therefore, apply a multidimensional switching cost model. Future studies could examine other possible antecedents of switching costs |
| Han and Ryu (2012) | 2009 | To investigate the roles that these variables play in determining WOM intentions of customers in a full-service restaurant by considering monetary and non-monetary switching costs as moderators in WOM intentions, along with satisfaction, trust and commitment | The USA | • A field survey • 263 full-service restaurant customers • Structural equation modelling | The encounter performance, satisfaction, trust and commitment had essential roles in generating WOM intentions. In contrast, satisfaction, trust and commitment were found to act as partial or complete mediators in the proposed framework. Last, the tests verified the moderating effects of monetary and non-monetary switching costs on the bonds linking encounter performance and satisfaction to WOM intentions. However, switching costs did not moderate the paths from trust and commitment to WOM intentions | A complete mediating role of commitment may cause the insignificant impact of switching costs on the trust and intention link, and the insignificant moderating role of switching costs in the link from commitment to intention may be attributable to suppressor effects. Future research should further examine the relationships among these variables in a different context and compare different ways of modelling these associations |
| Laksamana et al. (2013) | – | To re-examine the commitment-trust model in the context of premium banking services | – | • Personal interviews • (n = 9) bank relationship managers from the top five banks in the country and (n =22) premium retail customers • Qualitative themes within and across the two surveyed cohorts • A series of quotations from the interview transcripts | The findings provided evidence of the commitment-trust link, and in particular continuance-based commitment, within the context of premium banking relationships | Perhaps a good starting point here would be to build upon our model through the introduction of other salient relationship variables and test whether it holds when coupled with a variety of other constraints |
| Şahın et al. (2013) | – | To explore the role of switching costs in the relationship between satisfaction, trust and commitment for a brand | Turkey | • Pen-and-paper, self-administered survey • Convenience sample • 457 students’ mobile phone consumers • Multiple regression analysis | Switching costs positively affects the relationships between satisfaction, trust and commitment for a brand | Further research should focus on the antecedents and long-term consequences of the switching costs |
| Sharma and Patterson (2000) | – | To extend the relationship marketing literature by testing a contingency model to assess the impact of trust and service satisfaction on relationship commitment under conditions of varying switching costs, alternative attractiveness and experience-based norms in the context of professional consumer service | Australia | • A series of one-on-one, in-depth interviews • Convenience sample • 25 individual clients of two financial service firms • A mail survey • 201 clients of financial planning services • Regression analysis | The impact of trust and satisfaction varies according to contingency conditions of switching costs, the attractiveness of alternatives and client experience | Further research might focus on other services of a similar nature (e.g. dental, medical, optometry, veterinary, accounting and taxation services) to ascertain their generalisability. Future research might develop more comprehensive models and test for moderator effects on a range of antecedent variables |
| Lien et al. (2014) | 18 February 2013 to 18 March 2013 | To examine the effect of service quality (interaction, physical environment and outcome quality) on trust, to investigate the trust transfer in the health-care industry, to explore the moderating effects of image congruence and switching costs on the trust transfer and to assess the effect of trust on patients’ willingness of recommendation | Taiwan | • Convenient samples • 483 patients in 15 medium-to-large hospitals (district hospitals and regional hospitals) • Five-point Likert scale • Structure equation modelling | Switching costs do not appear to moderate the trust transfer. The results also confirm that trust in the original hospital and its allied hospitals positively affects patients’ willingness to recommend allied hospitals | Future research could examine specific ways to achieve image congruence and explore the management of brand extensions in the health-care industry |
| Milan et al. (2015) | – | To develop and test a theoretical model considering perceived value, service provider reputation, trust and switching costs as determinants of customer retention | Brazil | • 269 client companies of corporate health plans • Structural equation modelling | Perceived value positively influences service provider reputation, service provider reputation directly impacts trust and switching costs, switching costs are configured as determinants of customer retention and customer retention is positively influenced by service provider reputation in a relational context | There is also the possibility of testing other constructs and relations as determinants of customer retention, such as, for example, commitment, binding tactics, perceived quality and customer satisfaction |
| Moliner-Tena et al. (2018) | 2008financial crisis | To analyse consumer trust during a financial crisis, studying its antecedents and consequences. The perceptions of older and younger consumers are also compared | Spain | • 634 individuals • Structural equation modelling | In a period of financial crisis, older consumers’ trust is protected by an emotional and experiential shield from the effects of negative news in the surrounding environment. In contrast, although important, trust is not the core variable for the younger segment, whose preferences result from a broad range of cognitive and emotional variables | It would also be interesting to adopt the multilevel vision of trust in order to specify more accurately where the erosion of consumer trust has occurred |
| Kaur and Soch (2018) | June 2013 | To develop an understanding of the factors influencing Indian consumers’ loyalty towards mobile phone service providers by exploring the mediating roles of commitment, corporate image and switching costs on causal relationships between customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty | Indian | • 855 university students and employees who own and use mobile phone connections • Structural equation modelling | Calculative commitment and switching costs are each proven to be partial mediators between trust and attitudinal loyalty, while corporate image is proven to be a complete mediator | Future research can improve this measurement process by using the actual behaviour of consumers, such as average monthly expenditure and duration of the contract |
| Ethical sales behaviour and trust | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authors (year) | Time period | Scope | Country | Method(s) | Results | Limitations and future |
| – | To examine the views of business ethics and various business practices. In addition to identifying various sources of ethical conflict, current business practices are also examined with respect to how ethical or unethical each is believed to be | The USA | • Mail survey | Results outline executive responses to four ethical business situations | Research is needed to determine whether small firms are more likely to engage in unethical practices than large firms | |
| – | To investigate the effect of perceived unethical salesperson behaviour on intentions to choose a supplier | The USA | • Mail survey | As salesperson behaviour is perceived as more unethical, the purchaser is less likely to choose the firm that the salesperson represents | - | |
| 1992 | To examine the role of trust, ethics and knowledge in supplementing sales personnel’s level of customer orientation and selling orientation as explanatory | The USA | • A two-stage area telephone survey | Regarding the ethics variable, evidence is rather more ambiguous; ethics appears to be correlated with trust, but is also relationship satisfaction | The relatively high levels of satisfaction during the intervening stages may account for the lack of correlation when measured using linear scales. Further research to explore this possibility would be useful | |
| – | To assess the role of trust in business relationships, with a focus on the characteristics of the salesperson, manufacturer and the product ownership experience that contributes to this relationship | The USA | • A mailed survey | The buyer-seller trust results from salesperson competence, low-pressure selling tactics, service quality, manufacturer ethical concern and a general tendency to trust others | Another study could evaluate the types of signals that customers use to decide how ethically a company conducts its business | |
| – | To represent an initial step in analysing the role of ethical sales behaviour, as perceived by bank customers, in developing and maintaining relationships with customers | Spain | • Preliminary versions of the questionnaire were administered to a convenient sample of 249 consumers | The salesperson’s ethical behaviour leads to higher customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty to the bank that the salesperson represents | Further studies of ethical sales behaviour could investigate the construct from the salesperson’s perspective. Additional research on sales ethics could also consider the effect of variables such as the customer’s industry knowledge/familiarity and the extent of the relationship, both in terms of time, purchase frequency and volume (volume would refer to financial maturity in the banking industry), that may moderate the effect of ethical sales behaviours on relationship outcomes | |
| To analyse the effects of perceived ethical sales behaviour on customer satisfaction, trust and commitment to the salesperson. To analyse the role of the customer’s attitude towards the industry as a moderator of these effects | Spain | • In-depth interviews | The perceived ethical sales behaviour plays a major role in affecting the quality of the buyer-seller relationship, as it has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, trust and commitment to the salesperson. In addition, satisfaction with and trust in the salesperson positively influence customer commitment to the salesperson. Finally, perceived ethical sales behaviour has a stronger effect on customer satisfaction with the salesperson when the customer’s attitude towards the industry in which the salesperson works is more negative than when it is more positive | Future research dealing with ethical behaviour and trust should measure trust more validly, incorporating measures used in the relationship marketing literature | ||
| Pučėtaitė et al. (2010) | – | To explore the interrelations between organisational trust and ethics management tools as well as ethical organisational practices in a post-socialist context | Lithuania | • An electronic and paper survey | A significant dependence of organisational trust on ethical organisational practices has been established | The studied relationships need further research considering other characteristics of the represented organisations, e.g. the reported size, the sector (public/private) in which they operate and the origin of capital |
| Spring 2008 | To present an empirical study and contribute to the discussion of administrative ethics and integrity by investigating three ethical issues, namely trust, good governance and unethical actions in the Finnish public administration | Finland | • National Citizen Survey | The strength of the Finnish society concerning trust is that the citizens feel confident in public sector organisations and societal institutions. Even though serious corruption cases have remained few in Finland, there is still work to do to control the situation. Ignorant and bad treatment of citizens occurs mostly in individual service encounters, it does not reflect the whole of the administration's ethics | Further research is needed in order to investigate the societal background factors that can explain the different findings from the research questions. Also, further research is required to compare the results of different countries | |
| – | To explore the impact of ethical code enforcement on inter-organisational relationships | Canada | • Mail survey packages | Results confirm the connection between ethical code enforcement and continuance commitment but suggest that a supplier’s enforcement of ethical codes matters less when switching suppliers is perceived as too costly. Higher switching costs weakened the relationship between supplier-enforced ethical codes of conduct and continuance commitment | This study shows how switching costs may limit the extent to which buyers consider supplier enforcement of ethical codes of conduct. This research is of importance to ethics researchers and practitioners as it increases understanding of ethical behaviour between organisations | |
| – | To analyse the relationship between perceived ethicality at a corporate level, and brand trust, brand affect and brand loyalty at a product level | Spain | • An online consumer panel | There is a positive relationship between the perceived ethicality of a brand and both brand trust and brand affect. Brand affect also positively influences brand trust. Further, brand trust and affect show a positive relationship with brand loyalty | Since self-reported measurements of loyalty may not be representative of real behaviour, to further demonstrate the impact of an ethical image, it would be interesting to consider objective measurements such as financial performance, market shares and related metrics such as outcome variables and CSR investments, and other company inputs such as antecedent variables | |
| November 2011and April 2012 | To examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences trust, which engenders the chain of effects from upward influence behaviour through organisational health to knowledge sharing | Vietnam | • 1,028 shipping companies listed in the 2012 Vietnam Trade Directory | The findings offered a model of organisational health and its levers, such as CSR, trust and upward influence behaviour. Ethical CSR was found to nurture high trust in the organisation | The research model should be retested in other manufacturing and service industries, especially such service industries as health-care services, where upward influence strategies for adopting technological innovation are necessary | |
| – | To examine how customer-oriented selling is linked to two important antecedents – unethical intention and the trust of salespeople in their manager | The USA | • An electronic mail survey | Support was shown for a negative relationship between unethical intention and both trust in managers and customer-oriented selling. Interestingly, this sample did not support the proposed negative relationship between trust in managers and customer-oriented selling | Future research should study various variables impacting moral judgment and ethical behaviours. A subset of managerial trust-building behaviours and ethical intention would also make valuable contributions to the understanding of sales management/salesperson interactions | |
| 2009 | To test the relative influence of trust vs switching costs on e-loyalty for e-service providers. To examine whether trust moderates the relationship between switching costs and e-loyalty. To propose that in the presence of high customer trust, e-service providers should have less need to rely on switching costs as a driver of e-loyalty | –– | • A web-based survey | Trust is a more important predictor of e-loyalty than switching costs. In addition, the impact of switching costs on e-loyalty depends on the level of trust felt by customers | Despite this study’s finding that trust does not prime a person’s overall perceptions of switching costs, one might argue that trust is not necessarily distinct from the first-order relational facets of switching costs. For example, trust might directly affect perceived costs associated with ending a relationship with an e-service provider (i.e. trust increases the emotional discomfort associated with switching) | |
| – | To investigate the influence of ethical sales behaviour on relationship quality and its consequences in the context of telemarketing to identify the complex nature of relationship marketing | Taiwan | • Observations survey | Ethical sales behaviour components, that is, avoiding overharvest, security, honesty, privacy and non-harassment, have significant effects on relationship quality. Satisfactory relationship quality has positive effects on relationship commitment and customer loyalty | Will a higher corporate ethical standard be associated with better customers’ ethical sales perceptions, and hence enhance relationship quality? | |
| On 19 November 2012 to 20 January 2013 | To analyse managers’ ethical judgments in supply chain management. It investigated the influence of those judgments on trust and collaboration in supplier relationships | South Korea | • The e-mail or regular mail survey | The managers’ ethical judgments in bidding/contracting, information management and inventory management significantly increase trust, which in turn increases supply chain collaboration | As studies have argued that ethical judgment is a critical antecedent of ethical behaviour, future studies should examine how managers’ ethical judgments affect ethical behaviours in the supply chain and how ethical decision-making influences SCM | |
| – | To investigate the influence that consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics have on their responses (trust and loyalty) when retailers either create social discount spaces (integrated or collaborative) or do not | France | • Online (Google Docs) survey | The consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics have positive effects on consumer loyalty, both directly and through consumer trust, as well as positive, strong influences on the retailer’s corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation. Moreover, consumers’ perceptions of retail business ethics exert a stronger effect on consumer trust in integrated social discount spaces. However, social discount practices do not affect the link between such perceptions and loyalty | Although this study distinguished CSR from ethical perceptions, it treated it as a whole construct, not a composite one. Thus, this study cannot specify the effects of different dimensions of CSR activities (e.g. economic, social and environmental) on consumer trust and loyalty | |
| – | To identify the congruency between consumer values and the goals of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and corporate ethical standards as the two main determinants of CSR quality and commitment. It further investigates how consumer perceptions of CSR shaped by these two factors increase loyalty | South Korea | • Online survey | The higher ethical standards lead consumers to perceive that the company is committed to its CSR activities. The company's CSR commitment induces greater satisfaction with and trust in the company and its services, ultimately encouraging consumers to remain loyal | Variables such as corporate reputation, perceived risk and individual differences among consumers (e.g. age, gender and education) are known to influence how consumers make purchase decisions. Therefore, incorporating the potential moderating effects of these variables into the analysis could extend the explanatory power of the findings | |
| 2012–2013 | To explore the effects of ethical climate types on trust in management using Victor and Cullen’s framework, which is based on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and Gouldner’s sociocultural theory of organisations | India | • A sample of 270 employees from 10 organisations | The ethical climates characterised by caring, laws and codes and rules and procedures are significant predictors of trust in management. However, no support was obtained for any impact of ethical climates emphasising company profit, self-interest or independence on trust in management | Future research should examine trust in management as a mediating or moderating variable in the relationship between ethical climates and other organisational variables such as commitment, citizenship behaviour or productivity | |
| – | To examine the ethical perceptions of Chinese consumers as an example of effective and efficient management of company/brand strategies in an economy experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth | China | • Central locations such as shopping malls, parks, cafeterias, university sitting areas and electronic markets survey | The ethical perceptions of consumers translate into purchase intentions, both at the corporate and product brand levels. Similarly, a significant direct relationship between CCI and brand trust reveals that corporate-level ethical identification is trivial to customers. However, these perceptions do apply to product brands under a corporate umbrella. Furthermore, moderating variables were found to be useful in identifying target groups of Chinese consumers who are receptive to ethical appeals | The product brands did not represent a wide variation in consumers’ perceived fit levels. A wider range, such as service brands, might offer deeper insights into the functioning of perceived ethicality. In addition, different moderating variables (e.g. social variables) can be used, and comparisons can be made between consumers in developed and developing countries | |
| – | To examine the relationship between sellers’ ethical behaviour and customer loyalty. The mediating effect of trust and satisfaction in the relationship between ethical behaviour and loyalty was also assessed in the sportswear industry | Iran | • Face-to-face survey | There is a significant influence between sellers’ ethical behaviour and consumers’ loyalty. Also, satisfaction and trust mediate the relationship between sellers’ ethical behaviour and consumers’ loyalty | Sellers’ ethical behaviour, customers’ satisfaction, trust and loyalty can co-evolve over time. Repeated data collection would be particularly relevant when examining consumer response to a new brand or product that lacks extensive customer history or other external quality markers (e.g. positive word of mouth from existing customers) | |
| – | To examine the relationships between these factors and customer loyalty, and the relationships among these factors in the Turkish GSM sector | Turkey | • 1,662 mobile phone users in the biggest cities in Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmit and Bursa) | Trust in the operator relates positively and significantly with perceived switching costs | This paper may guide future research, as the relationships between each switching cost dimension and other variables (customer satisfaction, loyalty and trust) and the significance of these relationships have been examined in this study. As there are simultaneous correlations based on cause-effect relationships between the variables studied here, relationships should be tested using the structural equation modelling technique. Future research could contribute to the literature by developing a multidimensional measurement model of switching costs and implementation in different sectors | |
| – | To measure the effects of customer satisfaction and trust on customer loyalty, and the direct and indirect effect of “switching cost” on customer loyalty | Turkey | • 1,950 GSM users in four Turkish cities | The perceived switching cost moderates the relationship between trust in the service provider and customer loyalty | Future research might expand the data base, measure the sub-dimensions of switching cost and examine their moderating effects, simultaneously examine all the effects of these variables on loyalty, and apply the hypotheses and models developed here to other market sectors | |
| – | To test a model reflecting a system of interrelations among patient loyalty, trust and satisfaction as they are related to patients’ intentions to stay with a primary care physician (PCP) and recommend the doctor to other people | The USA | • A survey | Patient trust, satisfaction and loyalty are strong and significant predictors of patients’ intentions to stay with the doctor and to recommend the PCP to others | Further research should focus on strategies that would facilitate strengthening and helping primary care doctors develop trust and good personal relationships with their patients | |
| To further explore the links between trust, switching costs and service loyalty by examining the relative effect of trust and switching costs on attitudinal and behavioural loyalty | United Kingdom | • 290 retail banking customers | The key drivers of attitudinal loyalty are trust and relational switching costs and the key drivers for behavioural loyalty are trust relational switching costs and attitudinal loyalty | Trust and customer-perceived value could be manipulated while switching costs are measured. As the current model focuses on selected moderators (i.e. switching costs), future research should examine other moderators that may affect the strength of the relationships between trust, customer-perceived value and loyalty, such as channel type, expertise and alternative attractiveness | ||
| – | This study seeks to extend current research by testing a framework for understanding the impact of perceived suppliers’ willingness for customisation, effective communication and trust regarding perceived switching costs | Taiwan | • A mail survey | The perceived trust contributes to perceived switching costs. The perceived willingness of a supplier to customise for a buyer can indirectly impact perceived switching costs by way of perceived trust towards the supplier. Furthermore, analysis of the direct and indirect effects reveals that effective communication plays a dominant role and significantly influences trust and perceived switching costs | Further research should, therefore, apply a multidimensional switching cost model. Future studies could examine other possible antecedents of switching costs | |
| 2009 | To investigate the roles that these variables play in determining WOM intentions of customers in a full-service restaurant by considering monetary and non-monetary switching costs as moderators in WOM intentions, along with satisfaction, trust and commitment | The USA | • A field survey | The encounter performance, satisfaction, trust and commitment had essential roles in generating WOM intentions. In contrast, satisfaction, trust and commitment were found to act as partial or complete mediators in the proposed framework. Last, the tests verified the moderating effects of monetary and non-monetary switching costs on the bonds linking encounter performance and satisfaction to WOM intentions. However, switching costs did not moderate the paths from trust and commitment to WOM intentions | A complete mediating role of commitment may cause the insignificant impact of switching costs on the trust and intention link, and the insignificant moderating role of switching costs in the link from commitment to intention may be attributable to suppressor effects. Future research should further examine the relationships among these variables in a different context and compare different ways of modelling these associations | |
| – | To re-examine the commitment-trust model in the context of premium banking services | – | • Personal interviews | The findings provided evidence of the commitment-trust link, and in particular continuance-based commitment, within the context of premium banking relationships | Perhaps a good starting point here would be to build upon our model through the introduction of other salient relationship variables and test whether it holds when coupled with a variety of other constraints | |
| Şahın et al. (2013) | – | To explore the role of switching costs in the relationship between satisfaction, trust and commitment for a brand | Turkey | • Pen-and-paper, self-administered survey | Switching costs positively affects the relationships between satisfaction, trust and commitment for a brand | Further research should focus on the antecedents and long-term consequences of the switching costs |
| – | To extend the relationship marketing literature by testing a contingency model to assess the impact of trust and service satisfaction on relationship commitment under conditions of varying switching costs, alternative attractiveness and experience-based norms in the context of professional consumer service | Australia | • A series of one-on-one, in-depth interviews | The impact of trust and satisfaction varies according to contingency conditions of switching costs, the attractiveness of alternatives and client experience | Further research might focus on other services of a similar nature (e.g. dental, medical, optometry, veterinary, accounting and taxation services) to ascertain their generalisability. Future research might develop more comprehensive models and test for moderator effects on a range of antecedent variables | |
| 18 February 2013 to 18 March 2013 | To examine the effect of service quality (interaction, physical environment and outcome quality) on trust, to investigate the trust transfer in the health-care industry, to explore the moderating effects of image congruence and switching costs on the trust transfer and to assess the effect of trust on patients’ willingness of recommendation | Taiwan | • Convenient samples | Switching costs do not appear to moderate the trust transfer. The results also confirm that trust in the original hospital and its allied hospitals positively affects patients’ willingness to recommend allied hospitals | Future research could examine specific ways to achieve image congruence and explore the management of brand extensions in the health-care industry | |
| – | To develop and test a theoretical model considering perceived value, service provider reputation, trust and switching costs as determinants of customer retention | Brazil | Perceived value positively influences service provider reputation, service provider reputation directly impacts trust and switching costs, switching costs are configured as determinants of customer retention and customer retention is positively influenced by service provider reputation in a relational context | There is also the possibility of testing other constructs and relations as determinants of customer retention, such as, for example, commitment, binding tactics, perceived quality and customer satisfaction | ||
| 2008financial crisis | To analyse consumer trust during a financial crisis, studying its antecedents and consequences. The perceptions of older and younger consumers are also compared | Spain | • 634 individuals | In a period of financial crisis, older consumers’ trust is protected by an emotional and experiential shield from the effects of negative news in the surrounding environment. In contrast, although important, trust is not the core variable for the younger segment, whose preferences result from a broad range of cognitive and emotional variables | It would also be interesting to adopt the multilevel vision of trust in order to specify more accurately where the erosion of consumer trust has occurred | |
| June 2013 | To develop an understanding of the factors influencing Indian consumers’ loyalty towards mobile phone service providers by exploring the mediating roles of commitment, corporate image and switching costs on causal relationships between customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty | Indian | • 855 university students and employees who own and use mobile phone connections | Calculative commitment and switching costs are each proven to be partial mediators between trust and attitudinal loyalty, while corporate image is proven to be a complete mediator | Future research can improve this measurement process by using the actual behaviour of consumers, such as average monthly expenditure and duration of the contract | |
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