Trust

Subjects such as psychology, sociology and social psychology have definitions of trust with different emphasises but trust in the online trading environment has been interpreted in the following ways:

Kini & Choobineh (1998) defines trust as a dependence on the “integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing”. For instance, one person extending to another the confidence that a future decision will be made with good intentions. Zaltman & Moorman (1988) on the other hand, describes trust as the belief that one party can rely on a word or promise from another party.

McAllister (1995) has shown that trust relationship is one of the most important factors affecting the success of companies or organisations. Trust can benefit companies by reducing their costs, increasing their flexibility and efficiency (Nooteboom & Frederique, 2003) McKnight et al. (2002), state that the customers own propensity to trust (dispositional trust) affects the development of trust. “Today, trusted relationships are not created only between people or between people and organisations but can also be found between people and computing systems (Lee & Turban, 2001).

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