Trust and Information Asymmetry: How Intermediaries Affect Asymmetric Innovation Collaborations

Trust plays a crucial role in interorganizational collaborations. However, barriers such as information asymmetry between prospective partners impede trust building, especially in asymmetric collaborations. Although trust and information asymmetry have been extensively studied, previous research has failed to provide insight into the mechanisms of trust transference and the circumstances under which information asymmetry is accepted and considered legitimate. This paper addresses these research gaps by drawing on data from 113 semi-structured interviews in a multiple-case study of eight intermediary-mediated innovation collaborations between incumbent firms and start-ups. Based on the results of an inductive cross-case analysis, we propose that intermediaries orchestrate the trust transference by building trust with the prospective parties and mitigating information asymmetry. Furthermore, the involvement of intermediaries leads to the acceptance of information asymmetry through its legitimation. Finally, we shed light on trust nurturing and trust repairing practices developed by intermediaries during innovation collaborations.