Value Congruence and Trust Online: Their Impact on Privacy and Pr ...

perform particular actions important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control the other party” (Mayer et al., 1995). When one trusts a person or organization, it is likely that he or she will be willing to take risks with them. Any type of social exchange involves some risk. In e-commerce, the potential risk is presumably higher than that in normal exchange due to the anonymity, distance, and lack of physical interaction that characterizes the Internet. Thus, the study of trust is critical in understanding why people engage, or do not engage, in e-commerce activities.

The willingness to be vulnerable is a key component of trust. In a business to consumer (B2C) setting, customers are more vulnerable than in a face-to-face setting. For example, when customers place an order online, they may be asked to reveal personal or financial information to the vendor, and this is information that can potentially be used by criminals to commit identity theft or fraud. In order to engage in online transactions, clients need to trust vendors enough to be willing to put themselves in such a vulnerable position. Chow and Holden (1997) showed that on the Internet, without the presence of a salesperson, the primary recipient of consumer trust is the organization itself. Since e-commerce customers cannot physically interact face-to-face with a human representative, they rely on their trust in the organization when making purchasing and other decisions. In this online setting, developing and maintaining customer trust in the organization becomes critical.

Jarvenpaa et al. (2000) argued that trust is a precursor to a customer’s willingness to buy from an e-commerce website. They found that trust in an Internet store has a significant impact on customers’ attitudes, which greatly affect their willingness to purchase from the store. Both Amazon.com and eBay use seller-rating systems to engender trust from their customers and increase the likelihood of their purchases. Many other websites have followed suit. With the time and distance separation of buyer and seller in e-commerce, the significance of trust in online transactions is expected to increase.