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Top2. Literature Review
The notion of trust had a long history before the business and marketing disciplines got a hold of it. This literature review will give a nod to that lengthy tradition but, in the interests of space, will focus more specifically on marketing, e-commerce, and technology acceptance. All have derived from the wider conceptualization.
The bulk of the theory concerning trust in marketing applications came out of sociology (Gambetta, 1988). At its base are concepts such as its interactivity based on relationships, expectations, behavior of others, symbiosis, and exchange as well as the idea that trust becomes apparent in actions over time (Garfinkel, 1963). Relatedly, individuals then develop trust-based routines as they assess an ongoing relationship (Giddens, 1991). And, on a more immediate level, the particular environment, including situation and circumstances within which trust can form, is also critical (Baier, 1986).
Many of these concepts clearly apply to business situations as interactivity and exchange are at the basis of internal and external transactions. And businesses gain trust through routines, repeated transactions, and environmental cues. But more specifically, the research in trust related to business has focused more on rationality and how individuals and organizations perceive and assess their own self-interest, acting according to those calculations (Coleman, 1990). Drawing from economics, the benefit from reducing transactions costs and establishing closer relationships through trust can be weighed against the potential costs of opportunistic behavior by the opposite party. When trust is confirmed through expected performance, such cooperation leads to increased efficiency (Axelrod, 1990).