Underlying Factors of Buyer Commitment in B-to-B Market: A Model of Structural Bonding and Social Bonding

Abstract

We expand the current understanding of commitment by developing a model incorporating antecedent factors of buyer commitment to the supplier in the B-to-B market. First, we identify and explore the major antecedent factors of the buyer commitment from the perspectives of structural bonding and social bonding. Second, a structural equation model of commitment is developed and tested using the survey data of industrial purchasing managers. The relative effects of the antecedent factors on the development of commitment and their implications for future research are discussed.