MODERATOR ROLE OF THE CONSEQUENCES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUST AND ITS ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

Individuals in their day-to-day are demanded to make choices in contexts of services with mild and severe
consequences. Decisions with severe consequences are difficult situations where choices are dilemmas that
cause stress and severe emotional reactions (botti et al, 2009; Kahn, luce, 2003). The mild decisions, in turn,
involve situations that represent a low risk and uncertainty to decision maker. However, despite the
differences seen in the literature, the consequences of decisions - mild and severe - have rarely been seen in
consumer behavior studies. This theoretical essay aims to investigate the moderator effect of the
consequences of the exchange of relations between trust and its antecedents and consequences in the context
of provision of medical services. Consumer confidence plays a key role, especially in situations of severe
changes, as it reduces the perception of risk, since it helps the individual to form consistent expectations
regarding the service provider. Comparing exchanges with mild versus severe consequences, affection will
have a greater impact on confidence in exchanges with severe consequences comparing with mild
exchanges. In turn, the cognition effect will be moderated by the type of exchange, because it is believed that
in both exchanges, with mild and severe consequences, cognition will play an important role in reducing
uncertainty and increasing confidence. Regarding the consequences of confidence, it is believed that the
more severe are the consequences of the exchanges, the strongest will be the relationship between trust and
the treatment continuity intent, word-of-mouth and search for a second opinion.