Trust Breaks Down in Electronic Contexts But Can Be Repaired by Some Initial Face-to-Face Contact

Trust is the prerequisitefor successwhen a collaborative taskinvolves risk of individualistic or deceitfulbehaviorsof others. Cantrust emergein electroniccontexts? This issue is explored in an experimentin which trust emergenceis measured in both face-to-face (l-t-F) and electronic contexts. In this experimenttrust is revealedby the degree of cooperationthe groupis ableto reachin solving a social dilemma, i.e. a situation in which advantages for individualistic behavior make group cooperation highly vulnerable. The experimentconsistsof two stages. The first stage analyzes the effects of F-t-F and electronic communicationon trust Trust succeedsonly with F-t-F communication. The secondstageinvestigateswhether a pre-meetingF-t-F canpromotetrust in electronic contextsResultsarepositive. Examinationof how peopleconverse in thesetwo contexts shedssomelight on the effects of technical characteristicsand social circumstanceson the emergenceof trust. Keywords CSCW,trust,cooperationandconflict,...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1998
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Elena Rocco
• Keywords: CHI 1998, Collaborative Taskinvolves Risk, Electronic Communicationon Trust, Human Computer Interaction, Trust