Trust and reciprocity with transparency and repeated interactions

This paper uses data from a controlled laboratory environment to study the impact of transparency (i.e., complete information versus incomplete information) and repeated interactions on the level of trust and trustworthiness (reciprocity) in an investment game setting. The key findings of the study are that transparency (complete information) significantly increases trusting behavior in one-shot interactions. This result persists in repeated interactions. Further, transparency appears important for trustworthiness in one-shot interactions. In addition, repeated interaction increases trust and reciprocity with or without transparency. These results suggest that transparency is important in building trust in business environments such as alliances and joint ventures which are loosely connected organizational forms that bring together otherwise independent firms. It also provides support for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and similar legislation elsewhere which attempt to regain investors' trust in corporate management and financial markets by stipulating enhanced disclosures.     

中国消费品市场中“漂绿”的治理分析:基于信任的视角

基于中国经济社会处于转型期的背景,运用不完全信息漂绿博弈模型,讨论绿色消费品市场中信任对交易和规制政策效果的影响,发现信任的高低对漂绿现象出现的概率大小和漂绿治理政策的效果起到了关键作用。应通过参与和透明的方式,提高消费者对绿色产品的信任度、消费者和生产者对绿色产品相关规制政策的信任度,最终达到增强漂绿治理政策效果。     

Trust,fast and slow: A comparison study of the trust behaviors of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs

Following the cognitive and behavioral approach, this study compares the trust behaviors of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in a dynamic environment. Due to the differences in the contexts that they face, the thinking frameworks they adopt, and the knowledge structures they form from experience, we argue that entrepreneurs display different trust behaviors from non-entrepreneurs when facing volatile environments in the decision-making process. Adopting established paradigms from behavioral game theory (trust game), we examine the evolution of trust behaviors of the two groups for trust building, trust violation, and trust recovery. In a Singapore-based sample, we find that entrepreneurs build trust more quickly, decrease trust more quickly when faced with trust violations, and recover more quickly from trust violations than non-entrepreneurs. This study contributes to a better understanding of entrepreneurs' trust behaviors over time, their responses to variations in social exchanges, while contributing to overall ongoing discussions of the unique characteristics of entrepreneurs.     

The impact of blockchain technology on the online purchase behavior of green agricultural products

The purpose of this study is to identify and investigate the types of trust and their impact mechanisms in the application of blockchain technology for green agricultural products. A mixed research approach was used in this study. First, qualitative in-depth interviews with consumers were conducted to identify the technological path (blockchain technology), and the information disclosure path (environmental information of green agricultural products) that affect consumer trust. Two types of consumer trust were also identified, namely, cognitive trust in blockchain technology (digital trust), and instantaneous trust in blockchain technology disclosure information (swift trust), both of which play a role in influencing consumers’ immediate purchase. Then, based on the interview results, a theoretical model for this study was developed by combining signal theory and trust transfer theory. Through a quantitative survey, 474 valid data were collected to empirically examine the role of consumer blockchain technology experience and environmental information transparency perceived on digital trust and swift trust, and the role of both types of trust on impulse buying. The results show that consumer blockchain technology experience can significantly and positively affect the environmental information transparency perceived. And both have a positive effect on digital trust and swift trust. Also both trusts have a significant effect on impulse buying. Further mediating effects confirm the environmental information transparency perceived as an important intrinsic mechanism by which the blockchain technology experience influences consumer trust. The results of this study add an empirical basis for the role of blockchain technology. It also provides a reference for technology adoption by related companies.     

The Influence of Task Load and Automation Trust on Deception Detection

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects that user task load level has on the relationship between an individual's trust in and subsequent use of a system's automation. Military decision-makers trust and use information system automation to make many tactical judgments and decisions. In situations of information uncertainty (information warfare environments), decision-makers must remain aware of information reliability issues and temperate their use of system automation if necessary. An individual's task load may have an effect on his use of a system's automation in environments of information uncertainty.It was hypothesized that user task load will have a moderating effect on the positive relationship between system automation trust and use of system automation. Specifically, in situations of information uncertainty (low trust), high task load will have a negative effect on the relationship. To test this hypothesis, an experiment in a simulated command and control micro-world was conducted in which system automation trust and individual task load were manipulated. The findings from the experiment support the positive relationship between automation trust and automation use found in previous research and suggest that task load does have a negative effect on the positive relationship between automation trust and automation use. Experiment participant who incurred a higher task load exhibited an over-reliance on their automated information systems to assist them in their decision-making activities. Such an over-reliance can lead to vulnerabilities of deception and suggests the need for automated deception detection capabilities.     

The role of customization,brand trust,and privacy concerns in advergaming

This study investigates the effects of advergame customization features and trust in the brand advertised in the advergame on players’ brand attitude and personal information disclosure. Moreover, we examine to what extent players’ privacy concerns moderate these effects. Drawing on self-determination theory and uncertainty reduction theory, we developed and tested a game with varying levels of customization features and brand trust. Results show that customization possibilities and brand trust may have a positive influence on advergame persuasion outcomes, but this influence is strongly conditioned by consumers’ privacy concerns. When privacy concerns are low, a game containing customization features leads to a more positive brand attitude. However, when privacy concerns are high, the effect becomes negative. Additionally, we find that different levels of privacy concerns do not affect players’ responses toward high trust brands, but toward low trust brands. For low trust brands, players with high privacy concerns show more negative game responses than players with low concerns. These findings set the boundaries for several theoretical and practical implications regarding advergame effectiveness.     

Does societal trust make firms more trustworthy?

This study examines whether social capital can enhance financial stability. Specifically, we investigate the effects of societal trust on firm default risk in relation to two primary aspects. First, since lower levels of trust induce higher credit costs, it implies more severe adverse selection and thus a higher default risk, when the level of information availability is constant. Second, insufficient societal trust may exacerbate moral hazard because of the low social cost involved. We explore these associations by using a comprehensive cross country sample of 287,405 firm-year observations from 44 countries spanning the period of 1988–2017. We find that both investigated measures of default risk are significantly higher in regions that exhibit low trust. In addition, supporting above two conjecture, we demonstrate that negative associations are weaker when firms exhibit greater transparency and in economies with stronger formal institutions.     

Designing for Cost Transparency in Investment Advisory Service Encounters

Investment advisory services of financial service providers (FSPs) exhibit several characteristics that are detrimental to advisory quality. The interaction of advisor and client is strained by a lack of transparency regarding the advisory process (what activities are performed and why) and the information used therein (what information is used for what purpose and with what effect), as well as regarding the precise costs of the service and the recommended products. In prior research, we suggested that process and information transparency issues may be appropriately addressed with collaborative information technology (IT) artifacts. In this paper, we argue that collaborative, transparent artifacts may also be a premise of enabling cost transparency. To this end, we describe a complete research cycle of designing, implementing, and evaluating a shared cost-transparent IT artifact to support client-advisor interaction in investment advisory encounters. Evaluation results suggest the efficacy of our design in improving the clients?? perceived cost transparency as well as increase their satisfaction and their willingness to pay for the received investment advice. These findings may also challenge the common belief of FSPs that transparent, fee-based advisory services would neither be accepted by clients nor be economically viable. Practical implications of these findings for designing advisory encounters with supportive IT are discussed.     

THE EFFECT OF INVESTMENT IN INTERORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of investment in information technology in a supply chain. The results of that investigation are presented by focusing on an empirically tested supply chain relationship model containing both behavioral and operational constructs. The four behavioral constructs represented in the model are relationship trust, relationship commitment, relationship dependence, and long‐term relationship orientation. The four operational constructs represented in the model are retailer investment in interorganizational information technology, perceived supplier investment in interorganizational information technology, logistics efficiency, and logistics effectiveness. Among other findings, the results of the investigation found that perceived supplier investment in interorganizational information technology has a significant and positive effect on logistics efficiency.     

On Adaptive Emergence of Trust Behavior in the Game of Stag Hunt

We study the emergence of trust behavior at both the individual and the population levels. At the individual level, in contrast to prior research that views trust as fixed traits, we model the emergence of trust or cooperation as a result of trial and error learning by a computer algorithm borrowed from the field of artificial intelligence (Watkins 1989). We show that trust can indeed arise as a result of trial and error learning. Emergence of trust at the population level is modeled by a grid-world consisting of cells of individual agents, a technique known as spatialization in evolutionary game theory. We show that, under a wide range of assumptions, trusting individuals tend to take over the population and trust becomes a systematic property. At both individual and population levels, therefore, we argue that trust behaviors will often emerge as a result of learning.     

Collective-based ad transparency in targeted hotel advertising: Consumers’ regulatory focus underlying the crowd safety effect

Facing transparency requirement of ad generation process, digital marketers need to design proper transparency messages to preempt consumer backlash. Based on crowd psychology literature and the regulatory focus theory, we proposed and tested the crowd safety effect of the collective-based (vs. individual-based) ad transparency strategy with two experimental studies in the context of online hotel booking. Results of two studies consistently demonstrate the crowd safety effect of the collective-based transparency on enhancing hotel booking intention and ad click-through willingness. Furthermore, we found that consumers’ trust toward the ad, rather than privacy concern, mediates this positive effect. These findings help us better understand how social dimensions in ad transparency messages shape consumer responses, as well as the role of consumer trust in promoting targeted ad effectiveness through promotion focused behaviors.     

Corporate fraud,risk avoidance,and housing investment in China

This study investigates the impact of corporate fraud on household investment choices. We conjecture that by undermining trust in the financial and insurance market, corporate fraud behaviour would decrease households' investment in risky financial assets and increase investment in non-financial assets. Combining data on households' investment behaviour with information on fraudulent activities of listed companies in China, we find that households with more lifetime experience of corporate fraud invest less in stocks and are less likely to purchase private insurance. By contrast, fraud experience increases households' intention to invest in residential real estate. In addition, the impact of corporate fraud is stronger among individuals who pay more attention to economic information, among individuals who have more social interaction, and among individuals in better regulated regions. Furthermore, we find that different types of fraud have differentiated effects on household investment decisions. Our findings indicate that corporate misconduct could generate profound negative externalities on the whole financial system.     

Are privacy concerns still relevant? Revisiting consumer behaviour in omnichannel retailing

Omnichannel retailing is a new retail norm that focuses on providing a seamless interaction between retailers and consumers. Although the effect of omnichannel retailing on business is increasingly recognised, privacy concerns remain a subject of debate and a delicate issue which could potentially inhibit its growth. Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) model, the current study investigates consumer behaviour in omnichannel retailing and uses Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT) as the theoretical basis to examine the moderating effect of privacy concerns. A quantitative approach was adopted by means of self-administered questionnaires. 736 consumers were sampled, and the data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that consumer perception of channel integration (CPCI), consumer empowerment (CE), and trust significantly affect patronage intention in omnichannel retailing. In addition, when privacy concerns are low, the effects of CPCI and CE on trust are found to be stronger. It underscores the need to synergize channel integration, retailer-consumer relationship empowerment and effective mitigation of privacy concerns in the omnichannel retailing context. Implications of the study are provided.     

Does government transparency shape firm decentralization? Evidence from a natural experiment in China

We take advantage of a recent pilot program of e-government reform in China to study whether and how government transparency affects firm decentralization. We construct a reasonable proxy of firm decentralization to reflect the allocation decision rights on the basis of China's unique setting of mandatory disclosure of financial statements of the parent firms and the entire corporation. We provide supports on the reliability of firm decentralization proxy and present strong evidence that the improvement of government transparency and accountability significantly enhances firm decentralization. A plausible mechanism is that such reform reshapes firms' external business environment and internal operating efficiency. Results are particularly pronounced for firms in areas with low social trust and high corporate attention. Overall, our findings contribute to the research on the effect of government quality on economic activities and organization delegation structure.     

A social commerce investigation of the role of trust in a social networking site on purchase intentions

Trust is a crucial issue in online shopping environments, but it is more important in social commerce platforms due to the salient role of peer-generated contents. This article investigates the relationship between trust in social commerce and purchase intentions and describes a mechanism to explain this relationship. We propose a main and two alternative models by drawing on three concepts: social commerce information seeking, familiarity with the platform, and social presence. The models clarify the mechanisms through which trust, familiarity, social presence, and social commerce information seeking influence behavioral intentions on social commerce platforms. Findings from a survey of Facebook users indicate that trust in a social networking site (SNS) increases information seeking which in turn increases familiarity with the platform and the sense of social presence. Moreover, familiarity and social presence increase purchases intentions. Findings indicate that the main model fits the data better than the alternative ones. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The role of trust in the relationship between consumers,producers and retailers of organic food: A sector-based approach

Given current environmental concerns, the organic food market is an important issue in terms of sustainability. The consolidation of this market is based on trust. Many consumers rely on partial information to assess the quality of organic food and cannot determine its authenticity with certainty. They are led to trust the actors of the organic food chain and the government. In addition, numerous industrial and sanitary scandals have highlighted the need for the actors of the sector to establish relationships based on trust and transparency in order to guarantee the traceability of products and to protect the health of consumers. This research examines the impact of trust and confidence in producers and retailers on the intention to purchase organic food. To address this research issue, we conducted an online questionnaire survey of 316 organic food consumers in France. The results show the central role of quality as a strategy for building and maintaining trust with producers and retailers. They show for the first time the positive impact of trust in producers on trust in retailers. The results of this research allow us to provide advice to growers and retailers to maintain trust and promote purchase intent.     

In search of an institutional framework for anticorruption: Lessons from Scandinavia

Scandinavian countries continue to build strong reputations as the world's least corrupt countries. In this case study, in a search for an institutional framework that other countries and policy makers can learn from, we explore sources of high transparency and anticorruption norms in Scandinavia. The most important lesson from this study is that legislative, normative, and cultural institutional pillars must be aligned to achieve the highest level of transparency and anticorruption. We made three main observations. First, adequate and comprehensive legislation in addition to severe noncompliance consequences contribute to an ethical business environment in Scandinavian countries. Second, a willingness to embrace integrity norms and standards through active participation in international conventions and agreements on anticorruption movements contributing to high transparency and integrity management in the Scandinavian countries. Third, a national culture that emphasizes high governmental and civic trust makes bribery and corruption less sustainable. Residents' high level of trust in public officials and police in addition to high civil and media engagement in antibribery cases results in corruption being “starved of oxygen”. The findings suggest high trust levels, enforced regulative legislation, small country size, and high human development help craft a framework that drives a transparent business environment.     

Social trust and angel investors' decisions: A multilevel analysis across nations

The decisions made by angel investors are embedded in and influenced by their institutional settings. This paper advances a multilevel model of the direct and indirect effects of social trust on individuals' angel-investment decisions. It is postulated that two dimensions of social trust, namely the level and radius, can enhance information transmission, collaboration, and sanctioning mechanisms within a society. Consequently, they facilitate angel investment and moderate the relationship between it and individual factors. A multilevel model of data from 191,907 individuals across 25 countries shows that individuals in countries with a high level of trust are more likely to make angel investments. Whereas both the level of trust and the radius of trust are found to heighten the positive relationship between an individual's perceived entrepreneurial skills and angel investment, it is interesting to note that these factors weaken the relationship between the perception of new business opportunities and angel investment. These direct and moderating effects are robust after controlling for wealth, cultural values, and other factors. This study contributes to the crossover between research on entrepreneurship and social-trust research.     

我国基金托管人监督职责问题研究

我国《证券投资基金法》规定:基金托管人负有保管和监督双重职责。但由于基金托管人和基金管理人具有共同利益,从博弈数量模型看他们可能形成合谋,损害投资者利益;同时信托契约设计上的缺陷以及托管人实际操作中的无能为力,使托管人监督不力。因此,要从法律上建立对托管人及管理人的激励机制而非法律严惩;从信托契约上完善受托人机制以及借鉴公司型基金。     

社保基金投资股市对经济增长的影响

本文在一系列假定条件下分析了中央社保基金投资资本市场对经济增长和包括储蓄、收入分配、消费、价格等在内的宏观经济条件的影响.本文认为,总的来说中央社保基金投资包括股市在内的资本市场对经济增长的影响具有很大的不确定性,其影响主要取决于其他诸多相关因素,并在很大程度上取决于心理预期和政策工具的选择.换言之,在其他条件不变的情况下其影响是很有限的,或者说主要呈中性.