Power -trust -commitment in relationship marketing

Rapidly changing competitive environments are forcing firms to build long-term relationships with their partner. Relationship marketing that stresses on the long-term orientation can yield sustainable competitive advantage. Trust among the parties and commitment must be strengthened for the success of working partnership.;The current study examined the role of power sources in working partnership between co-operative as a distributor and the farmers as producers. The research was conducted in Indonesia. Using power sources precisely the party can strengthen trust and commitment. A model of Power-Trust-Commitment in relationship marketing was developed to test positive relationship between sources of power, trust and commitment, and the positive association between commitment and future intentions, whether the farmers will quit or remain in the working partnership.;An analysis of the data exhibited a major finding that trust as mediating variable. It mediates between expert power and commitment. Two out of five power sources associate positively with commitment, i.e., information and legitimate power. Expert power has positive relationship with trust. Trust among the party's leads to commitment. The current study supported hypothesis that commitment associate positively with future intentions.;The findings of the current study have important implication for co-operative manager. Firstly, as a voluntary organization, where there is no contract between co-operative and its member, co-operative should not use coercive power. Secondly, for strengthening trust and commitment co-operative should use information power by distributing useful material to its members. Legitimacy of the co-operative from its members is very important. By this legitimacy, the members acknowledge that co-operative has rights and it is their duty to comply with what co-operative ask, this attitude leads to commitment. Thirdly, co-operative must be managed professionally; the expertise leads to build trust which, in turn, impacts to commitment.;Recommendations for further research were provided. Further research should be conducted in all dairies co-operative as a whole, and on many different types of co-operative. Further research is suggested to develop the measurement of each construct of the current study, incorporate culture for identifying power sources, and include satisfaction in the model of working partnership.