Building Trustworthy Relationships with Smallholder(Small-scale) Agro-commodity Suppliers: Insights from the Ghana Cocoa Industry. (March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Glavee-Geo, Richard; Burki, Umar; Buvik, Arnt
• Other Names: Dadzie Kofi Q. guest-editor.; Sheth Jagdish N. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of macromarketing. Volume 40:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 110
• Page End: 127
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Subjects: supplier relationships -- agricultural marketing -- commodity supply/value chain governance -- opportunism -- small suppliers -- macromarketing -- gender; Marketing -- Periodicals; Marketing -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 658.802
• DOI: 10.1177/0276146719900370
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0276-1467

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate which factors lead firms should consider in their quest to build trustworthy supply relationships with agro-commodity suppliers. We developed a model of opportunism-trust relationships, which we analyzed in the context of a smallholder agro-commodity supply market (SHACSM). The data source is a survey of 444 buyer-supplier relationships from the cocoa industry of Ghana. The analysis shows that relational satisfaction, cooperation and information exchange reduce perceptions of opportunism consistent with the literature. However, multigroup analysis suggests differences in perception between men and women farm owners/managers. While men perceived the important role of information exchange in reducing perceptions of opportunism, women farm owners/managers were more concerned about the negative consequence of opportunism on trust. We discuss implications for theory, public policy, and macromarketing practice, and suggest options for future research.