The Effects of Renqing Repair on Trust Recovery: A Cross-Cultural Study

Trust is a fundamental basis of business relationships, especially between salespeople and their organizational buyers. However, trust can be damaged in various ways. Previous studies have suggested several repair strategies to recover trust, such as offering apologies or economic compensation. While valuable, the effectiveness of these strategies can be context dependent. This research draws on social exchange theory and the guanxi literature to introduce the notion of renqing repair strategy. Across four experimental studies conducted with multiple samples in China and the United States, this research finds robust evidence that renqing repair effectively mitigates trust damage in both Eastern and Western cultures. More importantly, it provides evidence that renqing repair is especially effective in addressing trust breaches that occur in newly established relationships or when the trust-damaging action is intentional. Evidence also shows that, in addition to the established mechanism of relational fairness, trust recovery can be driven by feelings of indebtedness between the buyer and salesperson. This research contributes to the literature by expanding the understanding of an alternative trust repair strategy and offering actionable insights for managing trust breaches in business relationships.