Trust me: I'm a marketing academic

This exploratory, qualitative research examines the literature from various disciplines, including psychology, sociology, economics, management and marketing in order to develop a consolidated model of the initiation and development of trust. It looks at the drivers of trust, the antecedents necessary for it to be initiated, the levels of trust that can be achieved, and how these, in turn, affect the perception of the drivers. In depth interviews with CEO’s and senior managers in the New Zealand wine industry were carried out and analysed using Nud*ist. The results show considerable agreement with the model but some aspects of the model were more frequently cited. Mutual goals and values, and engaging in good social bonding appear to heighten the chance of engaging in trust-based relationships. There was little evidence found for deep levels of trust being developed. The implications of these results are discussed and areas of future research are outlined.