Self-Perception-Based Versus Transference-Based Trust Determinants in Computer-Mediated Transactions: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Study

This study examines the impact of culture on trust determinants in computer-mediated commerce transactions. Adopting trust-building foundations from cross-culture literature and focusing on a set of well-established cultural constructs as groups of culture (Type I and Type II), this study develops a theoretical model of self-perception-based versus transference-based consumer trust in e-vendors, and empirically tests the model using cross-cultural data. The results show that transference-based trust determinants (i.e., "perceived importance of third-party seal" and "perceived importance of positive referral") are more positively related to consumer trust in e-vendors in a Type II (i.e., collectivist-strong uncertainty avoidance-high long-term orientation-high context) culture than in a Type I (i.e., individualistic-weak uncertainty avoidance-low long-term orientation-low context) culture. Unlike the initial hypothesized expectations, self-perception-based trust determinants (i.e., perceived security protection, perceived privacy concern, and perceived system reliability) do not show stronger roles to consumer trust in e-vendors in a Type I culture than in a Type II culture, although the stronger negative effect of perceived privacy concerns is observed on consumer trust in e-vendors in a Type I culture than in a Type II culture. Theoretical contributions for e-commerce cross-culture literature and implications for multinational online business managers are discussed.