How Does Information Technology Impact On Business Relationships? The Need For Personal Meetings

The paper raises the question of if and how information technology impacts on social exchange relationships. The aim of the paper is to investigate changes of social interaction patterns due to information technology in business relationships, by analyzing one specific aspect of interaction in business relationships, namely the effect of information technology on the need for personal meetings. The theoretical view is constructed on interaction, focusing on the need for personal meetings and information technology. The method employed is statistical and a total of 354 business relationships on the Swedish business to business market are collected and analyzed.