A Two-Process View of Trust and Distrust Building in Recommendation Agents: A Process-Tracing Study

Prior literature focuses on trust, while largely ignoring distrust, partly because of the assumption that an Information Technology (IT) design that builds trust in the IT will also prevent distrust-building. However, this assumption may not be true if trust-building processes and distrust-building processes in the context of IT usage are different. This paper proposes a two-process view of trust and distrust building, i.e., that trust-building and distrust-building processes are distinct and separate. In the context of recommendation agent (RA) usage in electronic commerce, a trust (distrust) process is defined as a customer’s favorable (unfavorable) interpretation of his or her interactions with an RA, resulting in a positive (negative) expectation that the RA can be relied upon for his or her shopping decisions. This study empirically tests a process theory rather than a variance theory. Variance theory research relies on logical arguments to explain and test the causality relationships among variables. Process theory research complements variance theory research by revealing and testing the mechanisms that constitute the processes by which certain variables influence others. In this process-tracing study, we collected and analyzed the concurrent verbal protocols from 49 participants using two RAs. The results of our protocol analysis support the proposed two-process view. The pattern of trust-building processes in RA usage is systematically different from that of distrust-building processes, which may suggest that some RA features should be designed to increase trust, and others to decrease distrust. The findings also suggest that distrust deserves research attention on its own merit. In a complex relationship involving both trust building and distrust building, understanding both trust and distrust processes, rather than focusing on trust alone, can lead to a more accurate representation and improved management of that complex relationship

Factors Affecting Student\u27s Performance and Intention to Use Hybrid Mode Learning

The central question in this paper is: How to be more effective and efficient in H-mode Learning. Specifically, this paper proposes that various designs (Student\u27s location, software, and contents at students\u27 screens) in H mode Learning will affect the students\u27 perceived resource availability, interaction and attention, which then impact students\u27 academic performance and their intention to use H-mode. The research is in progress. The Memorial University of Newfoundland has currently adapted the H-mode Learning for the fall semester, September 2021. We intend to collect data from our university and plan to observe and analyze it. Researching on H-mode would give the students and the universities a better alternative to focus on and could help better the course structure and student academic outcomes. The research would pave its way for researchers in MIS to learn and explore more about the evolving method of learning

The Effects of Personalization and Familiarity on Trust and Adoption of Recommendation Agents

In the context of personalization technologies, such as Web-based product-brokering recommendation agents (RAs) in electronic commerce, existing technology acceptance theories need to be expanded to take into account not only the cognitive beliefs leading to adoption behavior, but also the affect elicited by the personalized nature of the technology. This study takes a trust-centered, cognitive and emotional balanced perspective to study RA adoption. Grounded on the theory of reasoned action, the IT adoption literature, and the trust literature, this study theoretically articulates and empirically examines the effects of perceived personalization and familiarity on cognitive trust and emotional trust in an RA, and the impact of cognitive trust and emotional trust on the intention to adopt the RA either as a decision aid or as a delegated agent. An experiment was conducted using two commercial RAs. PLS analysis results provide empirical support for the proposed theoretical perspective. Perceived personalization significantly increases customers’ intention to adopt by increasing cognitive trust and emotional trust. Emotional trust plays an important role beyond cognitive trust in determining customers’ intention to adopt. Emotional trust fully mediates the impact of cognitive trust on the intention to adopt the RA as a delegated agent, while it only partially mediates the impact of cognitive trust on the intention to adopt the RA as a decision aid. Familiarity increases the intention to adopt through cognitive trust and emotional trust