Trust vs Trustworthiness

The issue of trust in marketing has gone beyond minimal consideration and it now appears to be the basis of any cooperation in majority of business environments. For any business transaction to be carried out there must be a form of cooperation between different parties and therefore there has to be an effective relationship and this requires relationship commitment and trust.

According to Ben-Ner and Halldorsson (2010) the definition of trust is the inclination of a person A (trustor) to believe that a person B (trustee) will cooperate and will not mischief person A if there is an opportunity to do so. The notion of trust entails that the trustor or person A will show some vulnerability to the trustee-person B by taking the risk that the person B might act in favour of his/her own benefit (Mayer et al 1995; Ben-Ner and Halldorsson 2010). An example of a trusting situation in business is when person A engages in trust without a binding contract by being vulnerable that person B will be cooperative and taking the risk that person B could take advantage of person A. Trust can be conceptualized based on when one party has a certain agreeable degree of confidence and reliability in the ability of the exchange partner’s capability to satisfy the required needs. Trust balances the expected value an exchange partner gives to reward the confidence given to them. The importance of trust therefore cannot be undermined as it is seen as the cornerstone of any strategic or business partnership.

Trustworthiness as explained by Ben-Ner and Halldorsson (2010) is the willingness of person B to act favourably towards person A, when there is a demand that needs to be fulfilled by person A. For example, online buyers have the expectation that companies will send the goods purchased in appropriate condition after they have provided them with their card details. However, trust and trustworthiness vary considerably according to the situation, personality traits and the meaning or measure of trust and trustworthiness (Ben-Ner and Halldorsson 2010; Mayer et al 1995). Trustworthiness is a crucial cognitive evaluations made by individuals in response to justice perception. It precedes the decision to trust a given individual and at the same time serve as the immediate antecedents to trust. It is antecedent to trust. It is the perception of a trustee’s characteristics that influences the extent to which a trustor makes oneself vulnerable to the trustee. The idea of interpersonal trust is built on the ground of social exchanges that informs ones perceptions of another’s trustworthiness.

Trust and trustworthiness is part of relations marketing and as Morgan and Hunt (1994) discuss relationship marketing is not only a seller and buyer relationship or between the company and customer, but also the relationship between all constructs of the organization of a business, i.e. partnerships, departments, employees and competitors. The commitment-trust model developed by Morgan and hunt (1994) suggests that the networks characterised by commitment and trust procreate cooperation and those key characteristics need to be sustained by common values, communication, high resources and mischief avoidance. This model discusses in depth the practical side of trust and commitment as two interconnected entities and how companies can benefit by using the tools provided (communication, high recourse etc), however trust is not only based on commitment, although it is a part of the trusting relation.

Mayer et al (1995) suggest that trust or perceived trustworthiness is dependant on three factors: integrity, ability and benevolence, plus the perception of risk and vulnerability, which all lead to trust. For example the perceived risk is an important part of online shopping and companies ought to build relations with customers based on trust. A study by Buttner and Goritz (2008) suggests that perception of an online retailer as trustworthy is vital for consumer’s decision to buy from that retailer.

The growing nature of business-to-consumer e-commerce has proved to be very significant as many studies have shown that a cast amount of individuals making internet purchases have serious security and privacy issues, hence businesses have realised that gaining the trust of the public is the first step in order to ensure the growth and their continued existence in their e-commerce businesses, hence there is a need for trustworthiness on their part. In order to build trust with clients it is vital to listen and understand deeply their thoughts and emotions so that real and meaningful relationships are formed (Gounaris and Prout 2009). For example, companies who talk and listen to their customers and understand their needs and expectations are more likely to be trusted.

Hence trust worthiness can be seen as how the electronic businesses’ integrity and reliability is perceived in the eye of the consumer. Trustworthiness in e-business is less important in low-relational scenarios than in high-relational situations. The reason for this is not far-fetched from the fact that high relational situations usually lead to a degree of commitment and customer retention while low relational purchases are usually associated with one off purchases and low commitment purchases. This basically shows that trustworthiness is a key factor in building, maintaining and sustaining customer loyalty. Previous studies have shown that there are certain determining factors that contribute to the enhanced perception of a marketers’ trustworthiness from the consumers’ perspective. Such factors as eventual order fulfilment, website design professionalism and advanced technology page designs, ability to navigate the marketers’ website with ease, most importantly the marketers’ general reputation and integrity.

With all this said the first and most important step in gaining consumers’ trust is by offering a promise to deliver on a service and eventually fulfilling the promise. Then the website must be portrayed as being user-friendly and pleasant. If these factors are effectively fulfilled, then there is a high likelihood that the purchaser would accord a high level of trustworthiness to the marketer and would subsequently lead to future purchase or customer commitment either behaviourally or attitudinally. As discussed earlier trust entails vulnerability and risk (Mayer at al 1995) therefore, it makes sense if companies have a good risk management audit right from the beginning of the company’s life and also a definition of risk and the way it is tolerated (Gounaris and Prout 2009).

References

Ben-Ner, A. and Halldorsson, F. (2010) ‘Trusting and trustworthiness: What are they, how to measure them, and what affects them’. Journal of Economic Psychology, 31, 64–79

Buttner, O.B and Goritz, A.S. (2008) ‘Perceived Trustworthiness of Online Shops’. Journal of Consumer Behaviour (7) 35-50

Gounaris, K. M. and Prout M.F. (2009) ‘Repairing Relationships and Restoring Trust: Behavioral Finance and the Economic Crisis’. Journal of Financial Service Professional 75-84

Mayer et al (1995) ‘An Integrative Model of organizational Trust’. Academy of Management Review, 20 (3) 709-34

Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, S.D. (1994) ‘The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing’. Journal of Marketing, 58 (3) 20-39