Abstract
This research examines asymmetric negativity biases in the formation of consumer trust in an online environment. Drawing on prospect theory and social psychology literature, the authors propose that online consumers will exhibit more negative bias for information regarding sellers' integrity than for information regarding sellers' competence. Two experiments manipulated the dimension of seller behavior by presenting text reviews (Study 1) and ratings (Study 2) in a typical online word-of-mouth setting. As predicted, although negativity bias does impact trust formation in this setting, the magnitude of the bias depends on the dimension of seller behavior involved: consumers exhibit much more bias toward information regarding sellers' integrity than toward information regarding sellers' competence. The authors also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | ICIS 2010 Proceedings |
Publisher | Association for Information Systems |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780615418988 |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2010 |
Event | 31st International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2010: Gateway to the Future - Saint Louis, United States Duration: 12 Dec 2010 → 15 Dec 2010 https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2010_submissions/ |
Publication series
Name | International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS |
---|
Conference
Conference | 31st International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2010 |
---|---|
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Saint Louis |
Period | 12/12/10 → 15/12/10 |
Internet address |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Information Systems
User-Defined Keywords
- Competence
- Consumer decision-making
- Feedback mechanisms
- Integrity
- Negativity bias
- Online trust
- Online word-of-mouth