Understanding the dark side of trust in the Turkish jewelry sector: A qualitative account

This study attempts to investigate the dark side of trust by building on the theoratical model developed by Gargiulo and Ertuğ (2006). More specifically, we endeavor to link different antecedents, namely, institutional, relational and economic antecedents, to three different "dark" outcomes: blind faith, complacency and unnecessary obligations. We also specify the types of trust that lead to these three 'dark' outcomes. For analytical purposes we specifically focus on interorganizational trust. The method of the study is qualitative and our data is based on buyer-supplier relationship in the Turkish jewelery sector. The findings suggest that blind faith is triggered by institutional mechanisms. Blind faith in the form of exploitation is widely seen in the entire value chain. 'Complaceny' which Gargiulo and Ertuğ (2006) defined as another dark otucome of trust have relational whereas 'unnecessary obligations' have both relational and economic antecedents. The study results also point to the value-chain phase dependent nature of the 'dark' outcomes of trust. According to this, blind faith is seen at all value-chain phases, complacency is specific to the production phase and unnecessary obligations are experienced at the distribution level. The study sheds light for future research on the dark side of trust. KEY WORDS: trust, dark side of trust, jewelry industry, value-chain phases.