Trust and customer willingness to provide information in database-driven relationship marketing

As organizations continue to embrace the concept of building customer relationships as a way of creating a competitive advantage, they seek to understand what makes a customer relationship successful. This article reports the results of a survey of consumers that explores one construct—trust in the organization—and its role in customers’ perception of their relationship with an organization. In addition, trust in the organization and its influence on customers’ willingness to provide the information necessary to help build a strong relationship is examined. The findings provide some support for the role of trust in building relationships, as well as identifying which factors are important in building that trust.