A foundation for understanding online trust in electronic commerce
| Date | 31 August 2005 |
| Pages | 131-141 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960580000267 |
| Published date | 31 August 2005 |
| Author | Beverly Kracher,Cynthia L. Corritore,Susan Wiedenbeck |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
A foundation for understanding online trust
in electronic commerce
INTRODUCTION
The use of information technology in electronic
commerce (e-commerce) has created a new online
environment that is highly efficient and effective,
on the one hand, yet problematic on the other. A
benefit of online communication is the speed at
which we can transfer information, including finan-
cial records. A fundamental problem in the new
electronic commerce environment is trust.
Information technology can either aid its transmis-
sion or threaten its existence.
Trust has been posited as the most important ele-
ment of successful e-commerce (Cheskin &
Sapient, 1999; Corritore, Kracher & Wiedenbeck,
2001). Evidence of its importance is reflected in the
multiple trust studies being commissioned by large
organizations and even governments (Canarie, Inc.,
2001). While there is much agreement on the
importance of trust in the online world, the formal
study of it in the context of e-commerce is in its
early years. However, it has been studied extensive-
ly in the brick-and-mortar, or offline, world. Trust
has been a topic of research in many offline disci-
plines since the 1950s. The interests and needs of
researchers in these various fields has led to a fami-
ly of trust constructs that are multi-dimensional
and various.
Information technology professionals and
researchers can employ offline theories of trust to
understand trust and trustworthiness in the e-com-
merce environment. This paper begins by showing
that the importance of trust in the offline world is
duplicated in the online environment of e-com-
merce. It proceeds to survey offline trust research.
Since all of the offline trust research in multiple
fields would be too extensive for this paper, we will
provide an overview of key works in the fields of
philosophy, psychology, sociology, management,
and marketing. Following the review of offline
trust research, this paper briefly discusses online
trust research in e-commerce. Lastly, topics for
future research in online trust in e-commerce are
proposed.
Info, Comm & Ethics in Society (2005) 3: 131-141
© 2005 Troubador Publishing Ltd.
Beverly Kracher, Cynthia L. Corritore
College of Business Administration, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
Email: {bkracher,cindy}@creighton.edu
Susan Wiedenbeck
College of Information Science & Technology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Email: susan.wiedenbeck@drexel.edu
Trust is a key concept in business, particularly in electronic commerce (e-commerce). In order to understand online trust, one
must first study trust research conducted in the offline world. The findings of such studies, dating from the 1950’s to the pres-
ent, provide a foundation for online trust theory in e-commerce. This paper provides an overview of the existing trust litera-
ture from the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, management, and marketing. Based on these bodies of work,
online trust is briefly explored. The range of topics for future research in online trust in e-commerce is presented.
Keywords: Trust, e-commerce, definition of trust, antecedents of trust, offline trust vs. online trust
VOL 3 NO 3 JULY 2005 131
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