Interpersonal cues and consumer trust in e-commerce

E-commerce stretches interactions over space and time, and thus requires more trust than traditional shopping. Current approaches to building trust in e-commerce focus on cognitive trust. Human trust decisions, however, are also based on affective reactions, which can be triggered by interpersonal cues. This research investigates the effect of visual interpersonal cues on users' trust in e-commerce. First results from this PhD indicate that visual interpersonal cues in the form of photographs have an effect on users' decision making. This effect, however, strongly depends on context variables, as well as individual differences. A further issue under investigation is the potential negative effect of interpersonal cues on task performance. Thus, in a next stage, this research will combine eye-tracking with physiological measurements to investigate effects on task performance and user cost. Keywords Trust, E-commerce, Interpersonal Cues.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Jens Riegelsberger
• Keywords: CHI 2003, Human Computer Interaction, Human Trust Decisions, Interpersonal Cues, Visual Interpersonal Cues