Institution-based Trust Research Articles

Typology of trust in micro-health and fitness influencers

Purpose Health and fitness influencers who directly affect one’s well-being through their messages create situations of vulnerability that require trust. To understand the various dimensions of trust, this study integrated a typology of trust into source credibility theory. The purpose of the study is to explore the typology’s four trust dimensions concomitant with the perceived attractiveness and expertise of such influencers to identify consumers’ attitudes toward micro-health and fitness influencers. Design/methodology/approach This study used a manipulated-stimuli online survey and gathered 414 micro-influencer evaluations. Variance-based structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The results supported the four of trust building. However, a less complex trust formation process was revealed, thereby contrasting the original trust theory formulation. Specifically, the effect of disposition to trust on institution-based trust was higher for regular than for heavy social media users. Also, compared to regular social media users, trusting intentions had a greater impact on heavy social media users’ attitudes toward micro-influencers. In addition, the effect of institution-based trust on trusting beliefs was higher for older than for younger participants. Furthermore, placement of congruent compared to noncongruent products created differences in perceived attitudes toward micro-influencers. In particular, disposition to trust had a larger effect on institution-based trust for noncongruent than for congruent product placements. Originality/value This study extended source credibility theory by including alternative trust dimensions – notably, non-situation-specific disposition to trust and institution-based trust, as well as situation-specific trusting beliefs and trusting intentions – into source credibility.

Dynamics of Institution-Based Trust Mobilization in Early Stages of Digital Peer-to-Peer Platforms

Dynamics of Institution-Based Trust Mobilization in Early Stages of Digital Peer-to-Peer Platforms

Algorithmic Decision-Making, Agency Costs, and Institution-Based Trust

Algorithm Decision Making (ADM) systems designed to augment or automate human decision-making have the potential to produce better decisions while also freeing up human time and attention for other pursuits. For this potential to be realised, however, algorithmic decisions must be sufficiently aligned with human goals and interests. We take a Principal-Agent (P-A) approach to the questions of ADM alignment and trust. In a broad sense, ADM is beneficial if and only if human principals can trust algorithmic agents to act faithfully on their behalf. This mirrors the challenge of facilitating P-A relationships among humans, but the peculiar nature of human-machine interaction also raises unique issues. The problem of asymmetric information is omnipresent but takes a different form in the context of ADM. Although the decision-making machinery of an algorithmic agent can in principle be laid bare for all to see, the sheer complexity of ADM systems based on deep learning models prevents straightforward monitoring. We draw on literature from economics and political science to argue that the problem of trust in ADM systems should be addressed at the level of institutions. Although the dyadic relationship between human principals and algorithmic agents is our ultimate concern, cooperation at this level must rest against an institutional environment which allows humans to effectively evaluate and choose among algorithmic alternatives.

UNDERSTANDING ROLES OF INSTITUTION BASED TRUST AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN SOCIAL COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT

ABSTRACT User-generated content is a two-edged sword in that it can both build and destroy trust in social commerce Web sites. One of the most important ingredients in the social commerce environment is institutional trust. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among institution-based trust, social interactions (content, positive valence, and negative valence), purchase intentions, purchase, and post-purchase behavior of consumers in a social commerce environment. With the help of 227 responses, the proposed research model was validated using structural equation modeling and binary logistic regression analysis techniques. The study’s findings confirmed significant effects of social interactions (content, positive valence, and negative valence) on consumers’ purchase intentions, increasing the likelihood of actual purchasing and sharing shopping experiences with other customers in a social commerce environment. Furthermore, institutional trust was found to be important in influencing content, positive valence, and negative valence. The academic and managerial implications are extensively discussed.

An Empirical Study to Understand the Role of Institution-Based Trust and Its Antecedents in IoT Adoption by Individuals

An Empirical Study to Understand the Role of Institution-Based Trust and Its Antecedents in IoT Adoption by Individuals

Understanding Trust Drivers of S-commerce

Trust has emerged as a pillar in the acceptance and use of new technologies in the ever-changing digital landscape, notably in the booming field of social commerce. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it explores in-depth the aspects of customer trust in Instashopping using new constructs that have yet to be explored in s-commerce literature. Focusing on Instashopping, the research proposed a multi-dimensional model of trust to examine the dynamics of user trust in social commerce platforms and analyses the effects of various factors, including institution-based trust, disposition to trust, personal inventiveness, perceived page quality, and overall web experience. Structural equation modelling and confirmatory factor analysis were used to examine data from 267 responses in a survey of university students in the United Arab Emirates who have used Instagram for shopping. The analysis showed that user trust and trusting beliefs were significantly influenced by the disposition to trust, institution-based trust, and general web experience. Still, no significant association was found between perceived site quality and trusting beliefs. These findings highlight the crucial part that user trust plays in social commerce platform success and how important it is for online platforms to build and maintain user trust. The work also contributes theoretically to the knowledge body by comprehensively analysing trust dynamics in social commerce. In practice, the knowledge gained can help organisations plan their strategy for gaining and keeping client trust, which is essential for long-term success in the digital arena. To ensure long-term success, organisations must emphasise building and maintaining customer trust.

Who earns trust in online environments? A meta-analysis of trust in technology and trust in provider for technology acceptance

Trust has been identified as inevitable for technology acceptance and might further gain importance as technologies become increasingly complex. However, previous research on trust in online environments lacks a systematic configuration of trust entities in research models; some studies include either trust in technology or trust in provider, others both. In combination with inconsistent results, this leads to a lack of in-depth knowledge about the trust entities’ relationship to each other, to their antecedents, and intention to use. Therefore, this study aims at clarifying these relationships and examining how they vary for different configurations. We performed pairwise meta-analyses to generate summary effects for the individual trust entities and examined four different trust configurations by applying meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). Our findings advance technology acceptance and trust research and highlight the necessity to carefully configure trust. More specifically, the results from pairwise meta-analysis support a strong relationship between the trust entities that is, however, countered by the effects of antecedents in MASEM. Institution-based trust and reputation are found stronger predictors for trust in provider and familiarity a stronger determinant of trust in technology. Furthermore, the trust entities show comparable paths to intention to use when either trust entity is included in the research model, but when both are integrated, trust in technology is more important than trust in provider.

Re-Evaluating Trust and Privacy Concerns When Purchasing a Mobile App: Re-Calibrating for the Increasing Role of Artificial Intelligence

Mobile apps utilize the features of a mobile device to offer an ever-growing range of functionalities. This vast choice of functionalities is usually available for a small fee or for free. These apps access the user’s personal data, utilizing both the sensors on the device and big data from several sources. Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is enhancing the ability to utilize more data and gain deeper insight. This increase in the access and utilization of personal information offers benefits but also challenges to trust. Using questionnaire data from Germany, this research explores the role of trust from the consumer’s perspective when purchasing mobile apps with enhanced AI. Models of trust from e-commerce are adapted to this specific context. A model is proposed and explored with quantitative methods. Structural Equation Modeling enables the relatively complex model to be tested and supported. Propensity to trust, institution-based trust, perceived sensitivity of personal information, and trust in the mobile app are found to impact the intention to use the mobile app with enhanced AI.

How does e-government use affect citizens’ trust in government? Empirical evidence from China

Although much literature has discussed the potential of e-government for improving citizens’ trust in government, the question of how e-government use affects citizens’ trust in government remains underexplored. To investigate the driving mechanism of the effects of different types of e-government use on trust in government, this research develops a conceptual framework based on the institutional-based trust theory, the process-based trust theory, and the expectancy-disconfirmation model. Based on data collected from 1668 citizen users living in five cities in China, the study verifies the proposed mediated moderation model and then tests the robustness of the results using process analysis. The results reveal that citizens’ use of e-government revitalizes their trust in government indirectly, via influence on citizens’ evaluation of government integrity, performance, and responsiveness from the experience of using e-government, while the mediating effects of citizens’ evaluation of government on relationship between e-government use and public trust are diminished by citizens’ expectations for their government. The analysis also offers strong support for the conclusion that the effects of different types of e-government use on public trust are differentially distributed among multiple levels of governments in China.

Examining the influence of trust and perceived risk on customers intention to use NFC mobile payment system

The current study investigates how perceived risks and trust factors affect customers' intentions to use mobile payment applications that utilize near-field communication (NFC) technology. The author created a conceptual model that includes five elements: intention to use, perceived risk, process-based trust, characteristics-based trust, and institution-based trust. Data was gathered through an online survey of 469 participants and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling techniques. The results indicate that only three of the four tested constructs significantly impact customers' decisions to use NFC mobile payments: perceived risk, process-based trust, and characteristics-based trust. Additionally, the study found that age and gender do not play a significant role in influencing the model constructs; therefore, the findings of current research highlight how perceived risk and trust have a pivotal role of in shaping customers' intention to use NFC as a mobile payment and how trust can substantially mitigate customers' perceived risk. Hence, this knowledge can aid in developing effective strategies for promoting mobile payment adoption among consumers.

An investigation of the impact of interpersonal and institutional trust on knowledge sharing in companies: invisible hands for knowledge sharing

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of different subtypes of trust on the willingness of companies to share knowledge. To measure improvement in work performance, three perspectives of interpersonal trust, institution-based trust and their combined effect on fostering trust are examined.Design/methodology/approachA comparative analysis and quantitative measurement are used in this study (with a sample size of 147) to determine which knowledge-sharing channels need to be established to increase effectiveness and efficiency.FindingsThis study found that both interpersonal and institutional trust can positively influence employees' willingness to share personal knowledge. Despite this, the combination of these two types of trust cannot outperform the scenarios in which one type of trust can reach its maximum. As a result of institutional trust, trustees are more likely to trust others when they feel protected.Research limitations/implicationsTrust may take on multiple dimensions in different business contexts and industries. In this study, the limited sample size and domain may only reveal some of these aspects of trust, which may not be representative of other contexts.Originality/valueFew researchers have examined the degree of trust and its impact on knowledge dissemination using relevant parameters. Their focus is solely on the interaction between interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing. As a result of this study, the concept of “trust” was quantified, with more tangible metrics to provide better estimates when assessed in different business contexts.

Organizational Trust in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Shifts in the Form, Production, and Targets of Trust

In this essay, we argue that the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution calls for a reexamination of trust patterns within and across organizations. We identify fundamental changes in terms of (1) what form organizational trust takes, (2) how it is produced, and (3) who needs to be trusted. First, and most broadly, trust is likely to become more impersonal and systemic. Trust between actors is increasingly substituted by trust in a system based on digital technology. Second, in terms of trust production modes, characteristic- and institution-based trust production will gain in importance. Third, despite the move toward system trust, there will nonetheless be a need to trust certain individuals; however, these trustees are no longer the counterparts to the interaction but rather third parties in charge of the technological systems and data. Thus, the focal targets of interpersonal trust are changing.

Do accounting disclosures help or hinder individual donors’ trust repair after negative events?

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether and how voluntary accounting disclosures can repair individual donors’ trust in a charity after negative events.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt a qualitative research approach and conduct 32 semi-structured interviews with active Australian individual donors, with a hypothetical vignette design. Hypothetical negative events and corresponding accounting disclosures are presented to participants during interviews.FindingsThree types of individual donors are identified based on their decision-making patterns after negative events and primary trust relations with a charity-reasoned donor (giving-decision based on their analysis of the situation, competence-based trust), generalist donors (giving-decision based on trust in the charitable sector, institution-based trust) and emotional donors (giving-decision based on feelings and emotions about the charity, integrity-based trust). The research suggests that accounting disclosures can repair trust damage for reasoned donors and support institution-based trust for generalist donors, but do not seem able to repair trust damage for emotional donors and can potentially damage trust further.Practical implicationsOverall, the findings suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to communicating with individual donors after negative events is not likely to be very effective in repairing trust. Instead, charities may need to adapt disclosures to their different types of individual donors.Originality/valueWhile prior accounting studies have largely focussed on how charity managers themselves grapple with accountability or how negative events impact charitable donations, the authors demonstrate how accounting disclosures can play different roles in the trust-repairing process for different types of individual donors.

Trust in sharing accommodation sector: an institution-based trust perspective

PurposeThe hosts' third-party certifications in the sharing accommodation platforms have largely overlooked how the provision of such certification information could facilitate the trust-building process and subsequently influence consumers' purchase intention. Adopting an institution-based trust perspective, the authors differentiate various types of hosts' certification information (i.e. financial certification and social certification) and examine their role in the trust-building process between the hosts and the customers on sharing accommodation platforms.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the property-month level data of Airbnb Beijing from January 2019 to June 2020. Econometric analyses are adopted to evaluate the impact of institution-based trust on consumers' purchase intention. Specifically, the ordinary least square is used to testify the relationship between institution-based trust and purchase intention.FindingsThe empirical results show that the information on institution-based trust increases the likelihood that customers would reach purchase decisions. More importantly, results show that both financial certification and social certification affect consumers' purchase intention. The results further show that listings' attributes moderate the relationship between institution-based trust and customer purchase intention. Moreover, the authors find that “Superhost” and “Experience” positively moderate such relationships.Originality/valueThis paper confirms that the host certification fosters institution-based trust and reveals the impact of hosts' certification on consumers' purchase intentions. This study is among one of the first studies to incorporate institution-based trust into the trust formation on the sharing economy platform, which can improve the understanding of trust in the sharing economy context. The authors emphasize the importance of trust types on sharing economy platforms.

Exploring the effects of relationship quality and c-commerce behavior on firms' dynamic capability and c-commerce performance in the supply chain management context

Although previous studies indicate the critical role of collaborative commerce (c-commerce) adoption and dynamic capability in the supply chain process, they have not addressed the relationship between c-commerce behavior and dynamic capability. By adopting the commitment-trust theory and the dynamic capability view, this study empirically examines the effects of relationship quality, c-commerce behavior, and dynamic capability on c-commerce performance. Survey data collected from 257 professionals in various manufacturing industries were analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The findings suggest that c-commerce behavior and dynamic capability are positively associated with c-commerce performance. However, negative calculative commitment does not positively affect c-commerce behavior. Moreover, institution-based trust does not negatively affect negative calculative commitment. This study is one of few studies investigating the relationships among the variables that contribute to c-commerce performance. The findings can serve as references for practitioners in supply chain practices.

Blockchain as the “trust-building machine” for supply chain management

This paper aims to investigate the impact of blockchain application on trust levels in supply chains. Through the systematic review of the relevant literature, three dimensions of trust, i.e., the trustor–trustee perspective, forms of trust, and time orientation, are investigated. Our findings show that, first, there are three pairs of trustors and trustees involved in blockchain implementation: (a) the user and the blockchain, (b) two supply chain partners, and (c) the consumer/public and a supply chain unit. Second, the two forms of trust, namely cognition-based and institution-based trust, are likely to be enhanced by blockchain execution, while affect-based trust may not be directly impacted by the technology. Third, the presence of blockchain technology would facilitate swift trust-building between unknown supply chain partners under specific circumstances. Moreover, we also find contradicting assertions among scholars on the implications of blockchain for trust in supply chains. While some studies pointed out that blockchain will enable a trustless trusted scheme, others expected the reinforcement of interorganizational trust. To test these assertions, we develop the blockchain-entrusted supply chain models to present the three-step process of how trust is developed through the blockchain and diffused to supply chain partners and external stakeholders.

Necessary but not Sufficient: Assurance Mechanisms for Enhancing Trust in AI-enabled Job Screening

The use of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment is now commonplace, yet research indicates candidates are wary of their use. This paper takes an institution-based trust perspective to investigate whether assurance mechanisms can enhance trust and acceptance of AI use in job applicant screening. Two experiments provide preliminary evidence for this proposition. In Study 1 (N = 267), we found that assurance in the form of governance by an ethical review board (compared to no information about review), enhanced candidate trust and acceptance of an AI applicant screening tool. Study 1 findings were broadly replicated in Study 2 (N = 653) which further showed that a combination of ethical review and direct human oversight of AI output enhanced trust and acceptance, but direct human oversight alone did not. However, low mean values of trust and acceptance suggest that even with assurance mechanisms in place, candidates were still sceptical. Qualitative findings indicate that human oversight and the use of AI tools to support human decisionmaking is important for people to trust AI use in recruitment and selection. Taken together, findings suggest that assurance mechanisms are necessary but not sufficient to garner trust and acceptance of AI use in recruitment.

Influence of Religious Practice and Church Interpersonal Trust on Spiritual Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic not only increased the risk of poor physical health but also brought about a crisis of spiritual health through restrictions on worship services. This study examined the spiritual health of Christians living in the era of COVID-19 and analyzed the role of personal religious practice and interpersonal trust in the church. To this end, 600 Christian adults were surveyed. This study found that women’s spiritual experience was higher than men’s and tended to be higher with older age and the length of faith. These results were linked to church duties, as duty holders had more spiritual experience than laypersons. Regarding individual religious practice and interpersonal trust, the group who frequently prayed and read the Bible and the group with high interpersonal trust in the church had high daily spiritual experiences, respectively. A comprehensive analysis through decision tree analysis showed that prayer was the variable showing the greatest difference in daily spiritual experience, while Bible reading was the second most important personal religious activity. Regarding church interpersonal trust, interaction-based trust and institution-based trust contributed to enhancing personal spiritual experience. Personal religious practice was reported as a more important variable in the promotion of spiritual experience than interpersonal factors during COVID-19.

Trust Transfer in Sharing Accommodation: The Moderating Role of Privacy Concerns

Sharing accommodation (SA) has gained rapid growth in the last decade. To offer better service to users, the platform and hosts have to extensively collect and utilize confidential user data and information. With the extensive collection and utilization of personal user information, there are potential problems of data abuse and leakage, which makes users’ privacy concerns an important and unavoidable issue for repeated purchases and the sustainable development of SA. Privacy concerns are thus not only an important antecedent of purchase behaviors, but also an important conditional variable that will have impacts on the formation of trust and user purchase behaviors. However, the moderating effect of privacy concerns on trust formation has rarely been examined in the SA literature. To fill this knowledge gap, drawing on trust transfer theory and trust literature, this study builds a theoretical model to examine the relationships of three types of institution-based trust (i.e., trust in the SA platform, trust in the user community, and trust in the host community) and their effects on continuous use intention. Moreover, this study explores the moderating effect of privacy concerns on institution-based trust transfer in the context of SA. We then collected data through a questionnaire survey from experienced users of two reputable SA platforms in China, and empirically tested the research model with 470 valid responses. The results show that trust in the user community positively affects trust in the SA platform and trust in the host community; trust in the SA platform and trust in the host community positively affect users’ continuous use intention. Meanwhile, privacy concerns negatively moderate the relationship between trust in the user community and trust in the SA platform, as well as the relationship between trust in the user community and trust in the host community. The findings confirm the moderating role of privacy concerns in the trust transfer process, complementing existing research on trust transfer theory and trust.

Research on Improving Online Purchase Intention of Poverty-Alleviation Agricultural Products in China: From the Perspective of Institution-Based Trust.

Poverty alleviation by consumption is a powerful way to help the poor people get rid of poverty, which plays a significant role in China's rural revitalization. However, the achievement of poverty alleviation by consumption mostly depends on government procurement, and the enthusiasm of customers to participate is low, facing the severe challenge of poor sustainability. Helping the poor is the most common motivation for customers to buy poverty-alleviation agricultural products (PAAP). However, as the negative events of poverty alleviation such as “tragic marketing” constantly appear in news reports, customers' trust in sellers has been seriously damaged. The psychological protection system for fear of being cheated hinders customers' purchase intention. Therefore, we believed that trust is an important factor in enhancing customers' purchase intention of PAAP. Customers buy PAAP mainly through online channels, and institution-based trust is the most important way to generate trust in online channels. Thus, this study investigated the institutional mechanisms that affect customers' trust in the sellers of PAAP and discussed the influence of trust on the online purchase intention of PAAP. Data were obtained through a questionnaire survey and tested empirically. The results showed that the effectiveness of the user feedback mechanism, platform supervision mechanism, product traceability mechanism, and product certification mechanism can enhance customers' purchase intention by enhancing their trust. Individual trust tendency positively regulated the relationship between the effectiveness of institutional mechanisms and consumer trust. The conclusion can not only provide new theoretical guidance for the practice of poverty alleviation by consumption in China but also offer new ideas for the poverty alleviation undertakings in other countries.