The Effect of Buyers’ Perceived Expertise and Reputation on Long-Term Orientation in B2B Context: Moderating Role of Perceived Fairness

Purpose - This study investigates the impact of expertise and reputation on trust and the effect of trust on long-term orientation (LTO) in the business-to-business (B2B) context of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It also assesses the moderating role of perceived fairness (i.e., distributive and procedural fairness) in the relationship between trust and LTO. Design / Methodology / Approach - A total of 707 Korean SMEs participated in this study and provided data for analysis. To test the proposed hypotheses, we analyzed the data using Mplus. Additionally, the moderating effects of perceived fairness on the relationship between trust and LTO were analyzed using the latent moderated structural (LMS) equation approach in Mplus. Findings –The research findings indicate that expertise and reputation significantly influence trust, which, in turn, affects LTO. Furthermore, procedural and distributive fairness positively moderate the relationship between trust and LTO. Notably, the study found that while LTO does not determine trust, trust serves as a determinant of LTO. Originality / Value - This study contributes to the business marketing literature by deepening our understanding of the moderating role of perceived fairness in the relationship between trust and LTO. Focusing specifically on Korean SMEs, it offers valuable insights into this context. Moreover, it represents a pioneering effort to investigate the causal relationship between trust and LTO.