A foundation for understanding online trust in electronic commerce

The use of information technology in electronic commerce (e-commerce) has created a new online environment that is highly efficient and effective, on the one hand, yet problematic on the other. A benefit of online communication is the speed at which we can transfer information, including financial records. A fundamental problem in the new electronic commerce environment is trust. Information technology can either aid its transmission or threaten its existence. Trust has been posited as the most important element of successful e-commerce (Cheskin & Sapient, 1999; Corritore, Kracher & Wiedenbeck, 2001). Evidence of its importance is reflected in the multiple trust studies being commissioned by large organizations and even governments (Canarie, Inc., 2001). While there is much agreement on the importance of trust in the online world, the formal study of it in the context of e-commerce is in its early years. However, it has been studied extensively in the brick-and-mortar, or offline, world. Trust has been a topic of research in many offline disciplines since the 1950s. The interests and needs of researchers in these various fields has led to a family of trust constructs that are multi-dimensional and various. Information technology professionals and researchers can employ offline theories of trust to understand trust and trustworthiness in the e-commerce environment. This paper begins by showing that the importance of trust in the offline world is duplicated in the online environment of e-commerce. It proceeds to survey offline trust research. Since all of the offline trust research in multiple fields would be too extensive for this paper, we will provide an overview of key works in the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, management, and marketing. Following the review of offline trust research, this paper briefly discusses online trust research in e-commerce. Lastly, topics for future research in online trust in e-commerce are proposed. Info, Comm & Ethics in Society (2005) 3: 131-141 © 2005 Troubador Publishing Ltd.