More than three decades ago, Bonoma

More than three decades ago, Bonoma and Johnston (1978) reported that friendship was among the two most cited factors influencing purchasing decisions among purchasing managers. Since then, the importance of close relationships to customers and suppliers has been established in the literature. But companies still find the tran- sition from transaction to relationship difficult and academia has not yet developed a sufficient knowledge base to understand close ties between buyers and sellers. This paper has attempted to unfold the concept of in- terpersonal attraction and discussed its relevance in buyer–supplier re- lationships to contribute to the understanding of close ties between customers and suppliers.