In commercial and investment transactions, disputes represent an inevitable, though undesirable, occurrence arising when one of the contracting parties fails to meet agreed-upon rights and obligations. This study aims to identify the determinants influencing the selection of commercial arbitration and examines whether a managerial level position affects this decision. Data were collected through interviews with 480 managers across five managerial levels in businesses with arbitration agreements in Vietnam’s leading arbitration centres. The results of a partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis suggest that the decision to choose a commercial arbitrator is indirectly influenced through the mediating intention by five factors related to the characteristics of the commercial arbitrator. These factors are as follows: legal expertise; reputation, knowledge and experience; time and cost of dispute resolution; litigation process; and business manager’s risk perception regarding the dispute at hand. Notably, managerial level does not significantly impact the relationship between the intention to choose a commercial arbitrator and the actual selection. These research findings are significant for legislative bodies and offer practical insights for businesses and arbitration centres, especially in emerging economies.