Agency beliefs mediate trust across cultures in e-commerce

Kwan, Letty Y.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/26376 Copy

Description

Title

Agency beliefs mediate trust across cultures in e-commerce

Author(s)

Kwan, Letty Y.

Issue Date

2011-08-26T15:33:39Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Hong, Ying-Yi

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Hong, Ying-Yi

Committee Member(s)

• Chiu, Chi-Yue
• White, Tiffany B.
• Cohen, Dov
• Shavitt, Sharon

Department of Study

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Trust
• Inter-cultural trust perception
• Trust and culture
• Trust in e-commerce

Abstract

Past research has identified differences in trust judgement between Western and Eastern cultures. In addition, some studies have shown that trust can be established through the trustee’s personal reputation of integrity, or through structural assurance mechanisms such as social monitoring and sanctioning. Nonetheless, the relative importance of personal versus structural cues in trust judgement across cultures is not clear. The present thesis examined cultural differences in the relative importance of personal and structural trust cues in trust judgement in the socially and economically relevant context of e-commerce. Results from 4 studies revealed that Americans prefer using personal integrity in trust judgement, whereas Asians prefer structural cues (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, these cultural differences can be explained by relative prevalence of the two types of agency beliefs, individual versus group agency across cultures (Studies 3 and 4).

Graduation Semester

2011-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26376

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2011 Letty Y. Kwan

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