Key factors for building trust in the context of high technology pharmaceutical industries and its customers

Objective: This study aimed to understand the key factors in building trust between high-tech drug manufacturers and their business customers. Method: In-depth interviews to obtain the perception of health professionals who work in oncology clinics regarding six key factors to build trust consistently found in the literature. Qualitative content analysis was used for data coding and interpretation. Originality / Relevance: Present research innovates by offering a systematization of the antecedents of trust present in the previous literature that discusses the trust construct. It also offers a qualitative empirical study unprecedented in this thematic applied to the high technology pharmaceutical sector. Results: Supplier competence emerged as a strength factor of confidence in building trust for all professional’s categories interviewed. However, the others factors demonstrated variance in importance among the professional’s categories. Theoretical / methodological contributions: The research allowed to qualitatively evidence the causal relationship between the trust construct and its antecedents in the high technology pharmaceutical sector, as well as its variability according to the profiles of each professional category involved in the decision-making process for new suppliers. Social / management contributions: Research findings allowed for consolidation of five key recommendations for relationship managers in the high-tech pharmaceutical industries.