The Impact of National Culture and Social Presence on Trust and Communication Quality within Collaborative Groups

Abstract

In this empirical study we examine the impact of national culture and social presence on interpersonal trust in both culturally homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. Results demonstrate that interpersonal trust is higher in homogeneous, low-individualism groups (represented by Chinese participants) than that in homogeneous, high-individualism groups (represented by U.S. participants); however, interpersonal trust in heterogeneous groups is lower for low-individualism than high-individualism group members. It is also found that social presence has a positive impact on interpersonal trust; however, a difference in social presence between groups supported by two collaborative technologies is not detected In addition, perceived communication quality is reported highest in face-to-face (FtF) groups without the support of collaborative software (CS), followed by FtF, CS-supported groups, and then virtual, CS groups. These findings have important implications for trust building in global groups as well as for the design of collaborative technologies in support of virtual groups.