Abstract

A theoretical model of trust in WWW commerce systems is presented. Based on this model, an instrument called the Trust Scale was developed. The instrument was validated using exploratory and higher order factor analysis to identify the presence of the underlying factor, trust. In the first stage of this research, we found that trust in our WWW commerce system was lower than trust in conventional banking systems, substantiating the need for studying factors that can influence trust in WWW commerce. In the second stage, three of our four major hypotheses were validated. Our hypothesis regarding the influence of information provision on trust was substantiated. We found that information provision about the system resulted in higher trust in the system. Our hypothesis regarding the influence of task risk on trust was also substantiated. We found that trust in a system is dependent on task risk, thereby suggesting that WWW commerce systems may not be trusted for all tasks. Our hypothesis regarding the influence of an individual’s Tendency To Trust, on trust in the system was not substantiated. Our final major hypothesis about the influence of trust on the willingness to use the system was substantiated. We found that individuals who had higher trust in the systems were more willing to accept and use the system, indicating that trust in the system will play a key role in ensuring adoption and continued use of WWW commerce systems.

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