Trust in the Internet: The Social Dynamics of an Experience Technology

Peltu and several anonymous reviewers for their comments. Summary Trust in the Internet and related information and communication technologies (ICTs)— 'cybertrust'—could be critical to the successful development of e-services ranging from electronic public service delivery to e-commerce. This paper is anchored in a study conducted in the summer of 2003 that explored trust in cyberspace. This Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS) was conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute, based on a multi-stage random sample of the population of Great Britain aged 14 and upwards that was designed to be projectable to the nation as a whole. It provides important new evidence that helps to illuminate the concept of trust and the determinants of its relationship to the Internet. The paper begins with an overview of these concepts. After describing the methodology and findings of the OxIS survey, analyses of the survey are drawn on to explore and refine key cybertrust issues. The potential for its findings to assist in shaping future directions for research and cross-disciplinary collaboration is discussed in the concluding section. The paper argues that cybertrust should be seen as referring to the everyday view of trust in general, as a confident expectation. In the case of cybertrust, this relates to expectations about the reliability and value of the Internet and related ICTs, such as the equipment, people and techniques essential to the use of online services. The OxIS survey reveals wide variations in cybertrust between individuals in Britain. Few exhibit a blind faith in the Internet and all that it offers, but most people are reasonably confident—if guarded—in the information and people they are able to access over the Internet. Well over half (59%) of the respondents to OxIS use the Internet, suggesting that there is sufficient trust to support the continued diffusion of this technology, despite a general awareness of the potential risks entailed in exposure to unwanted mail, viruses and other potential risks. Variation across individuals in their levels of cybertrust supports the view that the Internet is an 'experience' technology. Generally, experience on the Internet tends to engender a higher level of cybertrust. There are two general categories of cybertrust, which we have labelled 'Net-confidence' and 'Net-risk', that can assist in analyses of cybertrust. Specifically, they have helped this analysis of survey data show that: • Users of the Internet have more certainty and more confidence in the information and people they can access through …