Trust across borders: Buyer-supplier trust in global B2B e-commerce

Trust is important in all business, but especially in global B2B e-commerce, where trust is more difficult to develop due to the virtual and physical distances between buyers and suppliers. This study, using information signaling theory, examines two antecedents of trust in global B2B e-commerce: (1) buyers' perceptions of the national integrity and legal structure of the suppliers' country of origin, and (2) third-party verifications of suppliers. We surveyed buyers on a B2B exchange and found that buyers trust suppliers more if the suppliers' countries have higher national integrity, a better legal structure, and if the suppliers have been verified by a third party. Furthermore, as the number of transactions between buyers and suppliers increases, legal structure of the suppliers' countries has lesser effects on buyers' trust but national integrity remains influential. This study emphasizes the importance of adopting a global perspective in ecommerce research, and provides insights on trust formation and development in B2B relationships.