Effects of Internet Commerce on Social Trust

Abstract

As of the early 21st century, one of the most popular uses of the internet is for online shopping. In this study I examine how online purchasing affects levels of generalized social trust, a quality widely be- lieved to be central to the health and well-being of contemporary societies. Drawing on two original studies, including an experiment embedded in a representative national survey, and a hybrid laboratory/field experiment, I find consistent evidence that positive e-commerce experiences promote generalized social trust. I discuss the implications of these findings for the role of business in helping to maintain attitudes supportive of democracy. E-commerce has been expanding at an impressive rate; as of 2001 well over 100 million Americans had purchased a product online (Intermarket Group 2001). As of 2007, 51.1 percent of adult internet users reported that they bought products and services online (Direct Marketing Association 2007), and total online sales are expected to hit 259 billion dollars (Forrester Research 2007). At the same time, the increasing popularity of the internet has prompted concerns about the impact this new technology has on social life, and on levels of social trust in particular. In this study I hypothesize that participation in e-commerce stimulates higher levels of social trust. When people purchase goods from others who are not known in a face-to-face context, and those others turn out to be trustworthy, this raises people's baseline expectation about the trustworthiness of others. If people increasingly experience successful commercial interactions via internet with people in faraway places, then increasing e-commerce will have positive implications for generalized social trust.