Market orientation, trust and satisfaction in dyadic relationships:a manufacturer‐retailer analysis

Abstract

This paper studies the relationships between the manufacturer's market orientation behaviours and the distributor's trust in the relationship and satisfaction with it. It also analyses the effect of the distributor's trust on his/her satisfaction. Following a review of the literature, three alternative models of relationships between trust and satisfaction are compared. For this purpose the article presents the results of a study of the Spanish ceramic industry. These establish that the effect of the manufacturer's market orientation on the distributor's trust and on its satisfaction with the relationship is different depending on which dimension is considered. The model that best fits the data shows that trust improves the distributor's satisfaction with the relationship.