Trust in Electronic Commerce Business Relationships

The concept of trust in electronic commerce literature has emerged over recent years. Whilst trust has always been an aspect of business generally, in the digital economy it has taken on a more pivotal and visible role. When trading with someone, with whom you have no physical or visible contact it is imperative that the two parties have some basis for having confidence in the transaction. It is the governance of these commercial relationships in electronic commerce that will be explored in this paper. In particular, the basis of trust relationships will be considered and theoretical models of transactional structures and processes evaluated from a trust perspective.