To trust or to distrust, that is the question: investigating the trust-distrust paradox

One majOr Obstacle tO the widespread diffusiOn of e-commerce is consumer distrust. 9 In the highly uncertain virtual environment, people have a more prevalent tendency to distrust than to trust, so as to avoid potentially negative consequences. Although mechanisms to promote trust have been extensively researched, it is not clear whether these recommended trust-building mechanisms would be equally effective in reducing distrust. More fundamentally, are trust and distrust merely opposite sides of the same coin, or are they in fact two independent concepts that can coexist and should be managed differ-ently? In this article, we investigate this ambiguous phenomenon, which we characterize as the 'trust-distrust' paradox. The paradox raises the question of whether trust and distrust could indeed be two separate concepts which exist simultaneously in online consumers' minds. If trust and distrust are indeed two separate, simultaneously operating concepts, the mechanisms for building trust and eliminating distrust could be different: " it would be misleading to assume either that the positive predictors of trust would necessarily be negative predictors of distrust, or that the positive consequences of trust would necessarily be influenced negatively by increased distrust. " 7 To trust or to distrust-that is the question to consider: the paradox warrants a thorough examination. We use two hypothetical Web site examples of Internet vendors: the provision of value-adding information and the assurance that all hyperlinks are valid, to illustrate the possibility that trust and distrust could be two separate operating concepts. In the first example, a transactional Web site selling digital cameras provides value-adding tips and advice to help visitors enhance their photographic skills. The provision of value-adding information may be useful in building consumer trust, 2 as it signals the knowledge and customer-oriented services that the Web site provides. However, does such value-adding information also help to reduce consumer distrust? Customers would probably not feel suspicious about a Web site that lacked information about photographic skills, since this is not a necessary requirement for buying digital cameras online. In the second example , when confronted with broken links in a transactional Web site (especially in the payment pages), online customers would be understandably wary and distrustful of the Web site; they might seek out other sites that do not have broken links. 5 Yet it is unlikely that customer trust would be enhanced if a Web site had no dead links, since customers would typically take this for …