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The Effects of Trust-Assuring Arguments on Consumer Trust in Internet Stores: Application of Toulmin's Model of Argumentation

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  • Dongmin Kim

    (Faculty of Business, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 5050, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada E2L 4L5)

  • Izak Benbasat

    (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2)

Abstract

A trust-assuring argument refers to “a claim and its supporting statements used in an Internet store to address trust-related issues.” Although trust-assuring arguments often appear in Internet stores, little research has been conducted to understand their effects on consumer trust in an Internet store. The goals of this study are (1) to investigate whether or not the provision of trust-assuring arguments on the website of an Internet store increase consumer trust in that Internet store and (2) to identify the most effective form of trust-assuring arguments to provide guidelines for their implementation.Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation is proposed as a basis to identify the elements of an argument and to strengthen the effects of trust-assuring arguments on consumer trust in an Internet store. Based on Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation, three elements of arguments that commonly appear in daily communication; namely, claim , data , and backing , are identified. Data refers to the grounds for a claim , while backing is used for providing reasons for why the data should be accepted. By combining these three elements, three forms of trust-assuring arguments ( claim only , claim plus data , and claim plus data and backing ) are developed. The effects of these three forms of trust-assuring arguments on consumer trust in an Internet store are tested by comparing them to a no trust-assuring argument condition in a laboratory experiment with 112 participants.The results indicate (1) providing trust-assuring arguments that consist of claim plus data or claim plus data and backing increases consumers' trusting belief but displaying arguments that contain claim only does not and (2) trust-assuring arguments that include claim plus data and backing lead to the highest level of trusting belief among the three forms of arguments examined in this study. Based on the results, we argue that Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation is an effective basis for website designers to develop convincing trust-assuring arguments and to improve existing trust-assuring arguments in Internet stores.

Suggested Citation

  • Dongmin Kim & Izak Benbasat, 2006. "The Effects of Trust-Assuring Arguments on Consumer Trust in Internet Stores: Application of Toulmin's Model of Argumentation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 286-300, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:17:y:2006:i:3:p:286-300
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1060.0093
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    9. Meents, S. & Verhagen, T. & Vlaar, P.W.L., 2011. "How sellers can stimulate purchasing in electronic marketplaces: Using information as a risk reduction signal," Serie Research Memoranda 0014, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
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    15. Verhagen, T., 2008. "Investigating the impact of C2C electronic marketplace quality on trust," Serie Research Memoranda 0008, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
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    19. Christian Matt & Thomas Hess, 2016. "Product fit uncertainty and its effects on vendor choice: an experimental study," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 26(1), pages 83-93, February.
    20. Koray Özpolat & Guodong (Gordon) Gao & Wolfgang Jank & Siva Viswanathan, 2013. "Research Note ---The Value of Third-Party Assurance Seals in Online Retailing: An Empirical Investigation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1100-1111, December.
    21. Choi, Miju & Law, Rob & Heo, Cindy Yoonjoung, 2016. "Shopping destinations and trust – Tourist attitudes: Scale development and validation," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 490-501.
    22. Niu, Baozhuang & Yu, Xinhu & Dong, Jian, 2023. "Could AI livestream perform better than KOL in cross-border operations?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    23. Kevin Bauer & Andrej Gill, 2024. "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Algorithmic Assessments, Transparency, and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 226-248, March.
    24. Zhangxi Lin & Andrew B. Whinston & Shaokun Fan, 2015. "Harnessing Internet finance with innovative cyber credit management," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 1-24, December.

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