Abstract
As use of the
Internet has increased, many issues of trust have arisen. Users wonder:
will my privacy be protected if I provide information to this Internet
vendor? Will my credit card remain secure? Should I trust that this
party will deliver the goods? Will the goods be as described? These
questions are not merely academic. A recent Boston Consulting Group
study revealed that one out of ten consumers have ordered and paid for
items online that never were delivered (Williams, 2001). This year
consumers filed around 11,000 complaints with the Federal Trade
Commission alleging auction fraud, a figure up from the 107 lodged in
1997. It is no wonder that people are increasingly worried about whom to
trust in online interactions. This paper explores the conditions under
which online trust thrives and looks at examples of best and worst
corporate practices. Online trust issues arise in a wide array of forums
– chat rooms, news postings, e-catalogues, and retail transactions, to
name a few. This paper focuses primarily on the online retail market,
but the analysis applies to informational and entertainment sites as
well.
No comments:
Post a Comment