Building a Theoretical Model for Website Credibility/Trust: Antecedents and Consequences of Perceived Credibility/Trust of Websites

Jisu Huh

Abstract

The Web as an information source has drawn tremendous attention from website users and researchers. While the Web is inundated with information and users’ dependence on and expectations about information found on the Web is higher than ever, questions and concerns are rising regarding the quality of information provided by websites, how users evaluate credibility/trust of information on the Web, and how perceived credibility/trust influences user behaviors.

Special challenges we face in website credibility/trust research are threefold: (1) confusing usage of the credibility and trust construct in the research literature and a lack of consistent definitions; (2) a lack of a theoretical framework that explains the credibility/trust construct and links it with communication effect models; and (3) disconnection between two different approaches for credibility/trust measurements – feature-based and perception-based credibility operationalization. This proposed study especially focuses on the first two issues.

Trust and credibility have been defined and studied in a number of different disciplines including mass communication, sociology, psychology, economics, and marketing. For example, in mass communication research, credibility has been more commonly used and extensively studied as one of important elements in a communication process and an important factor of communication effect (e.g., Gaziano and McGrath 1986; Hovland, Janis, and Kelley 1953). In marketing and e-commerce, trust rather than credibility has been more frequently used and studied as a key factor of long-term exchange relationships (e.g., Garbarino and Johnson 1999; Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman 1995). Inconsistent – sometimes even conflicting – definitions and subdimensions of credibility/trust in different disciplines have been considered as one of the main obstacles of theoretical advancement (McKnight and Chervany 2001). There have been attempts to develop a systematic, interdisciplinary model of credibility/trust that can be universally applied across different fields and contexts (e.g., Chen and Dillon 2003; McKnight and Chervany 2001). However, empirical testing of such hypothetical models has been rare.

This study proposes a comprehensive model of credibility/trust construct that includes subdimensions, antecedents, and consequences of credibility/trust, and tests the model using a large nationally-representative survey data. Data allowing for a robust test of the proposed theoretical model were obtained from Consumer Reports WebWatch (http://www.consumerwebwatch.org). The survey was conducted with 1,500 Internet users age 18 and older and interviews were conducted in 2002. The survey questionnaire consisted of questions on general trust disposition, perceived trust of various government and business entities including websites, number of different websites visited, frequency of Web use, Web user type, Web knowledge, attention to important information in a website, reliance on different media as a news source, consumer behaviors on the Web, and consumer demographics.   

The study results will contribute to advancing our knowledge of credibility/trust and developing a theoretical model of the construct, as well as provide practical implications for public policy makers and web communication practitioners to ensure that consumers can more easily assess credibility of information on the Web and utilize the highest quality information to make a sound decision.  

References

Chen, S. C. and Dhillon, G. S. (2003), “Interpreting Dimensions of Consumer Trust in E-Commerce,” Information Technology and Management, 4(2-3): 303.

Garbarino, E. and Johson, M. (1999), “The Different Roles of Satisfaction, Trust and Commitment in Customer Relationships,” Journal of Marketing, 63(April): 70-87.

Gaziano, C. and McGrath, K. (1986), “Measuring the Concept of Credibility,” Journalism Quarterly, 63(3): 451-462.

Hovland, C., Janis, I., and Kelley, H. (1953), Communication and Persuasion. New Haven: Yale University Press. 

Mayer, R., Davis, J., and Schoorman, D. (1995), “An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust,” The Academy of Management Review, 2: 709-734.

McKnight, D. H. and Chervany, N. L. (2001), “Conceptualizing Trust: A Typology and E-Commerce Customer Relationships Model,” Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

About the Author

Jisu Huh is Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her research interests include health communication especially focusing on DTC advertising, indirect advertising effects, and trust/credibility issues in interactive advertising. Her work has been published in the Journal of Advertising, Communication Research, Journal of Health Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Consumer Affairs, and Health Marketing Quarterly.