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"The show must go on": A Qualitative Study on How to Build Trust in International Business-to-Business Relationships During Covid-19
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Marketing.
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Marketing.
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Marketing.
2022 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The conditions in the international business market changed rapidly andunexpectedly when Covid-19 evolved into a pandemic in March of 2020. As a result of this, businesses had to adapt their operations to the new circumstances. The new circumstances implied, among other things, not being able to meet B2B customers in person. Before the pandemic, meeting customers in person was the usual way of building trust in business relationships. This is especially true for companies in the high-end segment as their customers value trust in their suppliers in their purchasing decisions. Therefore, this thesis investigates how high-end companies' trust and relationships have been affected by the pandemic. It also examined which factors have been crucial for high-end businesses when managing relationships and trust.

A qualitative method has been utilized as a foundation for this thesis. Theoretical data were collected by reviewing several studies related to the topic. Empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with seven case companies. With the gathered data as a foundation, three themes were formed: B2B relationships, trust, and crisis. The themes are reoccurring throughout the thesis to provide the reader with a red thread. The themes are continuously related to high-end sales. The data has been analyzed to investigate the relationships between the themes. This thesis concludes that Covid-19 positively has impacted high-end companies' trust and relationships. Crucial factors for managing trust and relationships during Covid-19 have proven to be mutual understanding, local presence on the international market, transparency, and flexibility.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022. , p. 88
Keywords [en]
Business-to-Business Relationships, B2B, Trust, Trust Building, Covid-19, Crisis, High-End Selling, High-Quality Products
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-114910OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-114910DiVA, id: diva2:1678723
External cooperation
Norden Machinery AB; Nordic United Coatings AB; Hydro Extrusion Sweden AB; Epiroc Sweden AB; Xylem Water Solution Sweden AB; Amokabel AB; Roxtec Sweden AB
Subject / course
Business Administration - Other
Educational program
International Business Programme, 180 credits
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2022-06-30 Created: 2022-06-29 Last updated: 2022-06-30Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf