Designing E-Commerce Applications for Consumer Trust [chapter]

Jens Riegelsberger, M. Angela Sasse
2003 Trust in the Network Economy  
Due to its dis-embedded nature in terms of space and time shopping online requires more trust than off-line shopping. In this chapter we give an overview on our work on the effect of interface cues on consumers' initial trust in online-vendors. We define trust as an emotional attitude based on cognitive elements (estimates of competence and vendor's long term interests) and on affective reactions (based on e.g. interpersonal cues). We found that an individual vendor's ability to signal
more » ... hiness through the interface is limited. Many customers rely on transferring trust from off-line experience, recommendations or reputation. Cognitive trust of experienced Internet users can be won by displaying investment in branding, technology and usability. Affective elements (e.g. photos of employees) do also impact trust. However, whether the effect is positive or negative strongly depends on user type and situational variables. We close with an outline of future work that is required to clarify the influence of these variables.
doi:10.1007/978-3-7091-6088-6_6 fatcat:g6j3vuherza75npg7hp2sq44ya