Building interpersonal trust in a travel-related virtual community: A case study on a Guangzhou couchsurfing community

Abstract

Based on the theory of interpersonal relationships, this study aims to explore the process of interpersonal trust building in a virtual community involving both online and offline interactions. Results show that the interpersonal trust between couch surfers and couch host is a dynamic process covering three stages namely early, middle, and late. Initial trust is formed online at a high level, and then it is successfully transferred from the online world to the offline world. Meanwhile, the connotations of interpersonal trust develop continually from courtesy to instrumental, and then to emotional phase, with the development of the interactions between the two parties. Shaped by different factors under each phase, trust evolves from probable anticipation to mundane routine trust and then to ideological trust. A model illustrating the above process that how factors influence the process of interpersonal trust building and the evolution of trust connotations was proposed.