Cognition-Based Versus Affect-Based Trust Determinants in E-Commerce: Cross-Cultural Comparison Study

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of culture on the trust determinants in e-commerce. Adopting two broad trust building foundations (cognition-based and affect-based trust) from cross-culture literature and focusing on well-established cultural constructs as groups of culture, this study develops a theoretical model of cognition-based versus affect-based e-vendor trust, and empirically tests the model using cross-cultural data. The results show that cognition-based trust determinants are more positively related to consumer trust in evendor in an individualist culture than in a collectivist culture. Affect-based trust determinants are more positively related to consumer trust in e-vendor in a collectivist culture than in an individualist culture. Limitation and implications for practice are also discussed.