Trust and trustworthiness in professional-cleint relationships: procurement of architect/engineer services by Texas municipalities

This study explores the nature and role of trust and trustworthiness in professional-client relationships expressed in competitive professional services procurement decisions where qualifications-based selection is used to retain an architect/engineer consultant. Data were obtained from a sample of 205 municipalities, and structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and indirect effects of four kinds of trusting beliefs - dispositional trust, trust as assessment of trustworthiness, encapsulated interest, and institutional restraints against opportunism - on trusting attitudes. The direct and indirect effects of trusting attitudes on trust outcomes - namely, procurement choice, client satisfaction, and loyalty - were also tested. Trust was defined to exist at both the organizational (firm) and personal (firm representative) levels. As predicted, a trusting attitude - which is the key to realizing behavioral manifestations of trust - is directly and strongly governed by the client's beliefs, especially relative to the trustworthiness of the consultant. Client perceptions of trustworthiness serve as the gatekeeper toward trusting attitudes. By creating, sustaining and growing trustworthiness which lies squarely within the purview of the consultant community - it is consultants, not clients, who control this aspect of their own destiny. This study also revealed three bottom line outcomes of trusting for the consultant community: First, trust is a project qualifier, not a project winner. Clients base the procurement decision on factors other than trust, but a consulting firm will not even get the opportunity to be considered for a project if that consultant is not trusted. Second, trust drives client satisfaction. This study indicates that trust is more influential in creating client satisfaction than timeliness, service quality, or fee. Third, satisfaction and trust drive loyalty. Consultants who enjoy repeat business get this business from satisfied clients. Satisfied clients trust their consultants, and trusted consultants are trustworthy. Trustworthiness is the first virtue of professional life.