Do cultural differences affect international buyer-seller relationships?

Relationship marketing has been widely studied in a national context, however, little research has explored exchange relationships among international channel members. International relationships involve unique risks due to potential problems arising from transactions held between buyers and sellers of different cultural backgrounds. These cultural differences can negatively affect the development of relational outcomes such as trust and commitment, but the literature is not clear on this proposition. Two hypotheses are tested with Chilean importer firms. The results show that cultural differences do not affect the level of trust and commitment of exchange relationships between foreign suppliers and Chilean distributors. Theoretical and managerial implications are derived, and suggestions for future research are proposed.