The literature review as so far argued the position of trade in human society and the validity of Bitcoin as a trade currency and instrument with benefits over traditional payment systems. With the fundamental antecedents established the research direction is to investigate the factors affecting the usage and acceptance of Bitcoin in the market place. A good model to continue with is the: Venkatesh & Davis’ (1996) technology acceptance model (TAM) whose final output is “actual system use” (figure 3).
Salo and Karjaluoto (2007) Trust Model
Salo & Karjaluoto’s (2007) “conceptual model of trust in the online environment” is a unified framework of elements proposed to influence end-users trust in an online environment. It includes numerous other trust models showing that TAM is but one branch in a complex web of affecters. Companies operating in the online could make use of this trust formation and creation process through these multiple pathways in order to benefit to business.
Salo & Karjaluoto (2007)
Figure 2: Salo & Karjaluoto (2007) Model of trust in an online environment
The model is split into 5 external and 12 internal factors which both feed into the formation of online trust which in turn leads to intent and actual outcome.
The five External factors allow for the influence of trust to be attributed to beliefs formed outside the online environment based on prior experience. This is typically the way beliefs and attitudes are normally formed (Fishbein & Ajzen 1975).
Internal factors
1) In the diagram it can be seen that ’web vendor‘ also has a ‘past experience’ component the external and internal ‘past experience’ are two different things. External past experiences relate to the past experience outside the online environment whereas internal past experiences concerned with historical transactions with the specific ‘web vendor’, their trustworthiness, reputation and website quality.
2) The ‘information system’ relates to the perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) as prior described in the TAM with the further addition of ‘training’. “Trust in the information system relates to end-users’ ability to use the online system in an easy and useful way. Thus, using online services often requires some sort of training” (Salo & Karjaluoto, 2007). Further training can affect PEOU in both a physical or virtual setting.
3) Third-parties are important for building trust online. It has been shown that a trusted third party who endorses a site via a logo increases the customer’s willingness to give away personal information and interact with the website (Durkan et al., 2003; McKnight et al., 2002)
4) Privacy protection is important for less experienced e-commerce users (Hoffman et al., 1999) and visible steps to protect customers privacy is a vital for online service providers (Cranor, 1998).
External factors
1) ‘Consumer characteristics’ of an individual such as demo-socio- and psychographics are strong determinants of trust.
2) ‘Product and service characteristics’ relates to the cognitive involvement level needed for a transaction. For instance, the involvement in choosing the optional in purchasing a car is different from the level of involvement in the decision process of buying music.
3) ‘Different markets/cultures/countries’ just like in the physical world customers can be predicted to act or respond in certain ways depending on particular market/cultural/national influences and this can affect their trust. E.g. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (1980)
4) ‘Perception of risk’ and the avoidance of uncertainty are particularly pertinent as an influencer towards trust.
Proposed Pathway for Research
As the vast web of factors affecting trust in an on-line environment is extensive; compounded with time limitations of this paper a singular internal branch factor of, information system, and a singular external factor of, consumer characteristics, was deemed appropriate for research instead of the whole nine branch model.
Venkatesh and Davis’ (1996) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
Salo & Karjaluoto’s (2007) information system branch draws from Venkatesh & Davis’ (1996) TAM, a repeatedly revised model first appearing in Davis’ (1986) earlier paper. This widely used conceptualisation explains how humans behave when faced with new technologies. The TAM is suitable for conducting research to help explain and predict user behaviour in information technology (Legris et al., 2003) and e-commerce (Davis et al., 1992; Gefen et al, 2000). The TAM provides a comprehensive pathway to explain why a user accepts or rejects information technology. The model shows defines that “attitude toward using” is a product of PU, PEOU, and “external variables” which ultimately lead to “actual system use”.
External variables- include a number of affecters from individual factors such gender and experience to social factors such as subjective norm (Hubona & Geitz,1997). These influence an individual’s perception which feed into:
PU- “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance” (Davis, 1986). PU is therefore the individual’s perceived ability of the benefits of Bitcoin to enhance the user’s ability to trade for goods or obtain services.
PEOU- “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort” (Davis, 1986). The case for PEOU is that an arduous task would not enhance an individual’s utilisation of Bitcoin. Furthermore the arrow from PEOU to PU is indicative of the link between the two as the effort expended to use and the benefits thus gained both result to “intention to use”.
Figure 3: Venkatesh & Davis (1996) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
Figure 3: Venkatesh & Davis (1996) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
The TAM states that humans’ willingness to accept a new technology depends on two factors: PU and PEOU. The extent of these factors and companies’ influence of these factors along with Bitcoin users’ own interpretation of PU and PEOU will be investigated in this paper.
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The New Exchange 