Creando comportamientos basados en la confianza a través de la página web corporativa: creencias generales y específicas

Resum

There are many situations where the fact that an agent decides to trust another unknown agent can be influenced by the existence of beliefs about the behaviour that this unknown agent will have once the other agent has trusted in him/her/it. These beliefs determine an intention that, later, will result in a behaviour. This work goes beyond the existing studies in the literature, by introducing a new distinction between the general beliefs and the specific beliefs. This article examines, firstly, the influence that general beliefs exert on the intention to trust and, secondly, the role that specific beliefs play on the intention to trust. To do this, two types of analysis are developed. First, a theoretical analysis, with a research model in which the relationships between the variables are presented, as well as the researched hypotheses proposed. Secondly, an empirical analysis based on a laboratory experiment, which examines the beliefs about the reliability of the other agent through the information gathered in the corporate website of a chemical company. Three are the main news introduced in this article. First, establishing a distinction between general beliefs and specific beliefs, and the influence that each exerts on the development of a potential behaviour based on trust. Secondly, the development of this scheme in an online environment, through an empirical analysis based on an experiment on a company from which individuals only know the information contained on its website. And thirdly, the application of this methodology to a chemical company. Among the main conclusions drawn from this work, the following can be highlighted. First, the information contained on the corporate website can be such a effective tool to generate beliefs about the reliability of a company that even an individual may be willing to work for an unknown company, basing his/her decision on his/her beliefs about the reliability of the company, beliefs that have been developed on the basis of the information contained on the corporate website. Second, it is shown that the general beliefs that an individual elaborates from the information available in the environment can enhance the intention to trust an unknown company. Third, it is shown that an individual's general beliefs about the reliability of corporate information contained on the website of a company have a positive relationship with the intention to trust that company.