Perceived trustworthiness in using B2B digital services
| Pages | 587-607 |
| Date | 26 December 2019 |
| Published date | 26 December 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2019-0212 |
| Author | Heli Hallikainen,Saku Hirvonen,Tommi Laukkanen |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
Perceived trustworthiness in
using B2B digital services
Heli Hallikainen
Business School, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
Saku Hirvonen
Prodacapo Finland Oy, Espoo, Kuopio, Finland, and
Tommi Laukkanen
Business School, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine how the perceived trustworthiness of a B2B service
provider relates to a business customer’s intention to use digital services from that provider. The study
investigates whether perceived trustworthiness, composed of ability, integrity and benevolence, explains
behavioral intentions equally among all business customer segments, and how characteristics such as job
level, decision-making role, technology readiness age and gender moderate these effects.
Design/methodology/approach –Drawing on a model of trust transfer mechanism, the study explores
how perceived trustworthiness established in face-to-face interaction influences the use of digital services in
making B2B purchases. Hypotheses are tested using a sample of 1,866 responses collected from customers of
four B2B firms.
Findings –Ability is the most influential on the customer’s intention to transact through digital channels,
while the effects of integrity and benevolence show more variation. The effect of perceived trustworthinesson
the intention to use digital services is remarkably stronger among senior and middle management, high-level
decision makers, the younger age segment, men and individuals high in technology readiness, compared to
other segments studied.
Originality/value –The study contributes to the scant research on B2B customer behavior in the digital
environment and incorporates individual characteristics specific to the industrial domain.
Keywords Buyer–supplier relationship, Technology readiness, Trustworthiness,
Individual characteristics, Digital services
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
So far, much of the attention surrounding digital services has focused on consumers, while B2B
companies have been slower in launching and investing in digital services (Andersson and
Wikström, 2017; Angevine et al., 2017; Zaki, 2019). Digital channels can be helpful when
searching for information about alternative trading partners, including their services and
products: especially alternative options, their features and price information. Undeniably,
digital services save time and effort in making B2B purchases, and consequently many
interactions that traditionally have taken place in face-to-face encounters can now be handled
through digital channels using various digital services and self-service technologies.
Trust plays a key role when customers evaluate whether they are willing to utilize digital
channels during their purchase journey (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). Trust plays a prominent
role in exchange relationships (Massey et al., 2019), both in traditional buyer–seller
interaction (Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Doney and Cannon, 1997) as well as in online
relationships (Chen and Barnes, 2007; Pan and Chiou, 2011; Hallikainen and Laukkanen,
2018). Trust is considered even more critical in B2B settings where there are fewer actors,
the switching costs are high and prohibitive, interdependence is common and buying
processes tend to be long and complex (Akrout and Diallo, 2017).
However, whiletrust in organizational decision-making and B2B relationshipsis generally
well-established (Gounaris, 2005; Fang et al.,2008;Masseyet al., 2019), little is known about
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 120 No. 3, 2020
pp. 587-607
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-04-2019-0212
Received 2 April 2019
Revised 14 July 2019
31 October 2019
Accepted 4 December 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm
587
B2B digital
services
the role trustplays in the use of digital servicesamong B2B customers. Moreover,the research
on customer behavior in the digitalenvironment has mainly studiedconsumer markets, while
B2B markets are largely neglected in this respect. Consequently, to understand how the
perceived trustworthiness of a B2B service provider resonates with a customer’sintentionto
use the service provider’s digital services in making business purchases, the present study
relies on a cognitive model of the trust transfer mechanism (Stewart, 2003; Lu et al., 2011;
Lin et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2013) and examines: how a customer’s perception of a service
provider’s trustworthiness explains their intention to use digital services from that
service provider, and further: whether perceived trustworthiness (composed of ability,
integrity and benevolence) explains the behavioral intentions equally among all professional
customers, or whether individual characteristics moderate the effects.
As such, the study contributes to the scant research on B2B customer behavior in the
digital environment highlighted by recent studies (e.g. Obal and Lancioni, 2013; Pagani and
Pardo, 2017). To the best of our knowledge, the trust transfer mechanism, according to
which trust in face-to-face interaction contributes to trust in online behavior, has not been
examined in the B2B context, and thus the study broadens our understanding of how
trustworthiness of a service provider influences behavioral intentions in the digital
environment. Incorporating individual characteristics specific to the B2B domain (e.g. the
job level, decision-making role) and using them as moderators to understand their impact on
the importance of perceived trustworthiness contributes to the research gap highlighted in
recent studies of online trust relationships (Kim and Peterson, 2017; Oliveira et al., 2017) and
hence the study provides insights on the role of individual characteristics for academics and
practitioners, alike.
2. Theoretical background and model development
The relationship between perceived trustworthiness (Mayer et al., 1995) and the intention to use
digital services is the core of this study, and consequently, we ground the theoretical reasoning
onthetheoriesofbehavioralintention(e.g. Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Davis et al., 1989;
Ajzen, 1991) and the theory of perceived trustworthiness (e.g. Mayer et al., 1995; Gefen and
Straub, 2004). According to the behavioral intention theories, intentions are driven by various
beliefs that an individual hold. In this study, perceived trustworthiness represents customer
beliefs about a service provider’s trustworthiness, and according to the theory, these beliefs
influence customer intentions and behavior (McKnight et al., 2002; Schlosser et al., 2006).
Behavioral intention here refers to the customers’intention to use digital services
provided by a B2B firm. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) proposed that behavior is best predicted
by intentions and that a behavioral intention represents a mental state indicating the
likelihood of engaging in a prospective behavior. Behavior is actuated by a mismatch
between the present state and some target state, wherein the belief that a specific action will
assist in achieving the desired target intention (Malle and Knobe, 1997). The intention, in
turn, links the desire and belief to some future action (Malle and Knobe, 1997) and it is
regarded to precede actual behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Prior research finds that behavioral
intentions significantly relate to behavior and actions in general (King, 1975; Smetana and
Adler, 1980), and specifically to behavior that relates to the use of information systems
(Davis et al., 1989; Mohamed et al., 2014; Xiang et al., 2018).
Trust transfer theory suggests that trust in one context impacts the trust in another
context (Stewart, 2003; Lu et al., 2011; Lin et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2013; Shi and Chow, 2015).
For instance, Lee et al. (2007) found evidence that a customer’s trust in an offline bank
encourages the adoption of the bank’s online business. Relying on a model of a trust transfer
process (Stewart, 2003; Lu et al., 2011; Lin et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2013), the present study
examines how the customer perception of the service provider’s trustworthiness influences
the customer’s intention to use digital services from that service provider.
588
IMDS
120,3
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