Relative buyer-supplier relational strength and supplier's information sharing with the buyer

Extant literature exploring the effect of buyer-supplier relationship on information sharing takes a dyadic perspective and overlooks the fact that adjacent relationships play a role in affecting buyer-supplier information sharing. Drawing upon the theory of social conformity, this research tries to reveal the impacts of surrounding buyer-supplier relationships on a focal supplier's information sharing with the buyer in the dyad. Using survey data from 178 Chinese manufacturing buyers who identified 768 suppliers, this study shows both informational and normative social influences in the supplier network, and finds that for a focal supplier, the relative buyer-supplier relational strength is negatively associated with the supplier's information sharing with the buyer. Furthermore, this relationship will be strengthened when supplier network density and dyadic buyer-supplier technological difference are high.