van der Werff, Lisa ORCID: 0000-0003-4529-4690, Real, Colette and Lynn, Theo ORCID: 0000-0001-9284-7580 (2018) Individual trust and the internet. In: Searle, Rosalind H., Nienaber, Ann-Marie I. and Sitkin, Sim B., (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Trust. Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Accounting . Routledge, Oxford, UK. ISBN 9781138817593
Abstract
The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies and associated services heralded a second
generation of the Internet emphasising collaboration and sharing amongst users. This resulted
in a seismic shift in the relationship between individual consumers and firms but also
between individual consumers and the Internet as a system. Consumers, not firms, became
an emerging locus of value production and through the ability to publish and connect with
known and unknown others, an emerging locus of power (Berthon, Pitt, Plangger, & Shapiro,
2012). Powered by broadband telecommunications and device connectivity, the intensity of
these changes was further deepened by being freed from the desktop to the mobile web. We
are more connected now than ever before. The high levels of societal interconnectedness
encouraged by the internet have made trust an even more vital ingredient in today’s society
(Hardin, 2006). The more recent development of Web 3.0 technology emphasises ubiquitous
connectivity and a machine-facilitated understanding of information that may once more
change the locus of activity, value production and control. In order to keep pace with the
issues of contemporary society, trust researchers must consider the how trust relationships
and perceptions operate and are influenced by the online environment.
This chapter will discuss how traditional trust concepts translate to the online context
and will examine empirical literature on online trust at three different levels. Interpersonal
trust between individuals using the internet as a medium for communication is particularly
relevant in a world where personal and professional relationships are increasingly mediated
by technology. We will also discuss the role of the internet in relationships between
individuals and organisations with particular attention to the provision of e-services. Finally,
we discuss trust in the system of the internet itself as a distributed connected infrastructure
made up of indirect system service providers which are often nameless or in the background.
Our focus in the chapter is on individual trust in other individuals, organisations and the
system of the internet itself. Trust from the perspective of the organisation may also be of
interest to trust scholars. This includes issues relating to organisational trust in individuals,
inter-organisational trust, and organisational trust in the system of the Internet itself however
these topics are outside of the scope of this chapter (see Perks & Halliday, 2003;
Ratnasingam, 2005).
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
---|---|
Refereed: | Yes |
Subjects: | Business > Electronic commerce Business > Consumer behaviour |
DCU Faculties and Centres: | DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School Research Institutes and Centres > Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce (IC4) |
Publisher: | Routledge |
Copyright Information: | © 2018 Routledge |
Use License: | This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License |
ID Code: | 22321 |
Deposited On: | 13 Apr 2018 12:30 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 26 Oct 2018 12:01 |
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