Seminar presentation on the three means of building trust in

an electronic business relationship

Presenter: Anthony -Claret Onwutalobi & Jessica

Jarrell

A general definition of trust

Trust is referred to as the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectations that the other party will perform a particular action important to the trustee, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party (Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman, 1995 )

Another definition suggests that The expectation that commitments undertaken by

another person or organization will be fulfilled, especially in relationships where the trusting party lacks control over the trusted party but must still depend on it (Geffen, 2002)

Why is trust important in e-business?

In a global networked environment, cooperation and collaboration are necessary

The digital economy depends fundamentally on collaborative work and complex partnerships

Firms are experimenting with new organizational forms

Virtual organizations, designing organizations, learning organizations Partnerships and inter-organizational systems are becoming increasingly common (short- and long-term)

Three means of building trust in e-business relationship are:

Create Transparency:

Ensure maximum security

Streamline legal issues

Create Transparency

GET TESTIMONIALS: No matter how great your credentials are or how much experience you've had, people pay more attention to what OTHERS have to say about you.

STAY IN TOUCH : The people you see and talk to on a regular basis are usually the ones you trust the most. Communication isn't the only ingredient for developing trust, but it is a critical one. If you sell services or high end products, a personal phone call is one of the best ways to answer prospects questions, and to establish trust. Contact your prospects and clients regularly and get feedback on what they are concerned about.

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PERSONALIZE YOUR MARKETING: Its a common misperception that to sound credible your marketing should be dry and impersonal. People do business with people. You need to help prospects get to know you and trust you. Let your passion and personality come across in your marketing as well as your professionalism. Include a picture of yourself, with a smile, in a prominent place on the first page of your marketing materials

Ensure maximum security

Treat business information with care by: designing firewall to let through only specific traffic, and to monitor even trusted client’s communication in case their system is breached by a hacker

Encryption: organization should encrypt all sensitive information and standardize it in order that company could trust them

VPN: designed to provide privilege access to trusted 3rd parties making the public internet safe by creating an encrypted tunnel for information flow

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Digital certificate: To keep online business-to-business transactions secure, Company uses digital certificates and authentication software to verify customer identities, as well as public-key infrastructure and encryption to protect the integrity of the transactions.

Streamline Legal Issues Bonding: in this way one or more parties deposit a bond with a

trustee. If any of specified list of condition is breached, the bond is forfeited

Legal Agreement: Where two parties sign up a temporary contract to bind both parties in their online business transactions

EXCHANGE ENDORSEMENTS: Team up with a business you trust that also targets your market. Get them to include an endorsement of your products and services in their marketing and do the same for them. While a personal referral is ideal, an endorsement is a close second. This tactic can double your marketing reach at zero cost

REDUCE PERCEIVED RISK: Buyers' biggest concern is how well your product or service will perform. Providing a guarantee may help, but in most cases its not going to make the sale. Clarify the value you provide and state your commitment to seeing that your clients are not only happy, but ecstatic about your product and services

Conclusion:

The need to trust business partners is nothing new to every business transaction. However, means to establish this trust in online business is crucial. It may require security, transparency, and the idea of streamlining legal matters in order to build it. With this in place, it would result in more favorable response to the firm's offerings and a long-term trusted relationship between consumers and business organizations