International buyer behaviour-commitment relationship: an investigation of the empirical link in importing

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm this article examines relationships between knowledge, trust, communication, volatility and sustainable competitive advantage as the exogenous and endogenous variables with importer commitment as the dependent variable. The primary data was gathered from a survey of 224 commercial and industrial firms, headquartered in Bangladesh, coming from a wide cross section of industries. Statistical analysis was carried out using Structural Equation Modelling via AMOS. The study's key findings revealed that all exogenous/endogenous variables had a significant impact on importer commitment. That is, knowledge, trust, communication, volatility and sustainable competitive advantage had a significant direct impact on importer commitment. Additionally, cultural similarity, communication, volatility and supplier opportunism all had a significant indirect impact on importer commitment. This finding makes a significant contribution to the relational side of the RBV.