Trust in E-Commerce: Social Networks vs. Institutional Credibility

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Author(s): Fahri Unsal (Ithaca College, USA), Kurt Komaromi (Ithaca College, USA)and G. Scott Erickson (Ithaca College, USA)
Copyright: 2013
Pages: 14
Source title: Adoption of Virtual Technologies for Business, Educational, and Governmental Advancements
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Sushil K. Sharma (Ball State University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2053-7.ch004

Keywords: Digital Divide & Developing Countries / Government & Law / Human Aspects of Technology / Information Science Reference

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Abstract

E-Commerce’s virtuality poses questions concerning trust between buyer and seller. Web 2.0 formats have provided new complications for these questions. Companies are creating more social networking sites, experimenting with ways to use such networks for marketing purposes. This paper explores the issue of trust in social networking site transactions vs. those at more established e-commerce sites. The authors apply the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to assess the level of trust in different types of e-commerce sites. TAM measures trust along several dimensions and includes potential explanatory factors, such as ease of use, perceived usefulness, search and research capabilities, security, value of product recommendations, and value of customer reviews. The authors directed the respondents to assess amazon.com, Facebook, and eBay—sites with different levels of institutional credibility and social networking affiliations. The data suggest definite differences exist between the sites, perhaps explained by institutional credibility and social networking.

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Trust in E-Commerce: Social Networks vs. Institutional Credibility

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