Conceptualizing Trust: A Typology and E-Commerce Customer Relationships Model

A typology of trust concepts would enable researchers to compare results and communicate results more clearly. The typology would be especially valuable if the types of trust are shown to relate to each other. This paper justifies such an interdisciplinary typology and relates the trust constructs to e-commerce actions. It defines both conceptual level and operational level trust constructs. The conceptual level constructs consist of Disposition to Trust (from Psychology), Institution-based Trust (from Sociology), and Trusting Beliefs and Trusting Intentions (from Social Psychology). Each construct is further decomposed into two to four measurable subconstructs. Web vendor interventions designed to encourage customers to purchase goods/services or to share personal information with the vendor are posited to affect these behaviors by influencing customer trusting beliefs and trusting intentions in the vendor.