Buyers' search for new market ties with strangers

Much is now known about the role of repeated ties in network evolution processes, but we know less about the establishment of ties with strangers. In this paper, we add to the literature on network dynamics by examining the patterns of buyers' search for new ties with partners in vertical relations that they have had no direct tie with in the past. Our hypothesis is that buyers favor previously unknown new partners that have specific network, social, and market characteristics. Our longitudinal analysis of supplier network formation in the Japanese automobile industry shows that a searching buyer favors strangers that have higher network centrality, ties with other buyers with which it has more shared bridges and similar product lines, and lower multimarket contact as new partners.