Building mechanism of the initial trust motivation of owners toward contractors

Li, H; Liang, M; Han, H and Zhang, W (2025) Building mechanism of the initial trust motivation of owners toward contractors. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 23(1), pp. 51-68. ISSN 1726-0531

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to study the initial trust of the owner to the contractor, establish the initial trust mechanism, explore the factors that affect the initial trust of the owner to the contractor and analyze its influence mechanism. Based on this, it is easy for the owners and contractors to take targeted measures to improve the initial trust, which is conducive to the sustainable development of the project. Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of reading a large amount of literature, this paper constructs the occurrence mechanism of the owner's initial trust to the contractor from the five factors of trust propensity, trust belief, trustee's characteristics, institution-based trust, trust motivation and from the perspective of the owner using the structural equation model for questionnaire survey and empirical analysis. Findings: The results of this paper show that the institution-based trust, the trustee's characteristics and the trust belief of the trustor clearly have a positive effect on trust motivation, and the trustee's characteristics have the most significant effect on the trust motivation. The influence of trust propensity on trust motivation was not significant. Originality/value: This paper studies the occurrence mechanism of the owner's initial trust in the contractor, discusses its influencing factors and analyzes the influence of these factors on the initial trust, which enriches the theoretical system of initial trust research. The results of this study can help owners and contractors to develop targeted measures to build good initial trust.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: empirical study; engineering construction; initial trust; occurrence mechanism; trust motivation; questionnaire survey
Index terms: owner, methodology, motivation, structural equation model, survey, influencing factor, questionnaire, empirical study, initial trust, sustainable development
Subjects: sociology, research methods, statistical analysis, psychology, risk assessment, health safety and environment, data collection methods
Topics: Human Resources, Organizational Design, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Research Practice, Health and Safety
Descriptive scope: 5 PCTEA

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here