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Cultural Influences in the Link between Relationship Bonding and Commitment

Volume 19, Number 4 Article by S Dash, Ed Bruning and Kalyan K Guin December, 2007

Cultural Influences in the Link between Relationship Bonding and Commitment: A Study of the Indian Corporate Client-Bank Relationship :

This study tested a conceptual link between the cultural value of individualism, the relative importance of relationship bonding between buyer and seller, and the extent of commitment brought by the two parties into the business relationship. Resting on the argument that ‘an ideal unit of analysis for culture is sub-cultures rather than countries’, the authors specifically examined how intra-cultural variation in individualism as a cultural value affects the relational bonding in enhancing commitment between buyer and seller, within the same national cultural context.

The study provided empirical evidence that the collectivist orientation of Indian culture influenced the customer in preferring the social aspects of the relationship between corporate customer and bank, over the structural aspects. It demonstrated that a long-term committed relationship between corporate customers and a bank could be built up through social bonds, by nurturing friendship and a feeling of belongingness, establishing personal relationships and sharing personal advice or support between the corporate customer and the bank representative. From a managerial point of view, the ways of establishing such social bonding should be identified and developed.

This study is one of the few marketing studies to empirically verify the moderating role of intra-cultural values in customer-client, business-to-business relationships in a service sector. A major question addressed in this study was whether the cultural value of individualism moderates the effect of social or structural bonds on long-term commitment in business-to-business relationships within the same country. The empirical evidence indicates that it does. Bank-company relationships are dependent upon the specific cultural bases of the parties. Managers must be aware of the cultural values of the buyer/client in order to understand the most effective means of establishing and nurturing the bank-client long term relationship.

Reprint No 07405