Dual Pathways to Commitment: Communication, Salesperson Behaviour, and the Re-Specification of the Commitment–Trust Model in Mature Technical B2B Markets

Mature technical business-to-business (B2B) markets challenge the canonical commitment–trust hierarchy because product parity, informational asymmetry, long-cycle repeat purchasing and enduring dyadic relations may decouple the antecedents of trust from those of commitment. This study re-specifies the commitment–trust model by proposing a dual-pathway architecture in which communication is associated with commitment via trust, whereas product quality and salesperson behaviour are associated with commitment through perceived value. The model was tested through a cross-sectional survey of Portuguese business customers in the paint sector (n = 101), analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results corroborate the five positive hypotheses: communication strongly predicts trust; trust is the strongest predictor of commitment; product quality and salesperson behaviour both predict perceived value; and perceived value retained a smaller but significant direct effect on commitment. The theoretically motivated non-effect of perceived value on trust is also supported, indicating that, under the specified scope conditions, trust is formed primarily through epistemic and communicational mechanisms rather than through utilitarian value aggregation. The study contributes by refining the commitment–trust tradition, distinguishing epistemic–relational and utilitarian routes to commitment, and offering managers a pathway-specific basis for allocating relational investments in mature technical B2B markets.