Handbook of Management Scales/Trust

Trust (alpha = 0.89)

Description

The author theoretically conceptualizes and empirically validates a scale to measure individual trust in online firms. The items represent three key aspects of trust: trustee's ability, benevolence, and integrity. Two surveys were conducted (online retailing company Amazon and online banking division [OBD]), to ensure adequate levels of reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity.

Definition

Trust is defined as "the willingness of a party [trustor] to be vulnerable to the actions of another party [trustee] based on the expectation that the other [trustee] will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party [trustee]" (Mayer et al.).

Items

Amazon [OBD] has the skills and expertise to perform transactions in an expected manner.
Amazon [OBD] has access to the information needed to handle transactions appropriately.
Amazon [OBD] is fair in its conduct of customer transactions.
Amazon [OBD] is fair in its customer service policies following a transaction.
Amazon [OBD] is open and receptive to customer needs.
Amazon [OBD] makes good-faith efforts to address most customer concerns.
Overall, Amazon [OBD] is trustworthy.

Source

Bhattacherjee (2002): Individual Trust in Online Firms: Scale Development and Initial Test. Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 211–241

Comments

The trust scales was initially conceptualized as a second-order construct consisting of the dimensions of ability, integrity, and benevolence. However, it turned out that a first-order model demonstrated a better fit compared to the second-order model. It is recommended to take the following article into consideration before measuring trust-related constructs: Whipple et al. (2013), Conceptualizations of Trust: Can We Trust Them?, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 34, No. 2.

Related Scales

Trust (alpha = 0.82/0.84)

Description

Trust was measured with a measure developed by Mayer and Gavin (2005) which, in turn, is an update of Mayer and Davis’s (1999) measure. The Likert-type scale ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Definition

Trust refers to the willingness to be vulnerable to the actions of a trustee on the basis of the expectation that the trustee will perform a particular action, irrespective of any monitoring or control mechanisms.

Items

I would be comfortable giving my supervisor a task or problem that was critical to me, even if I could not monitor his/her actions.
If someone questioned my supervisor’s motives, I would give my supervisor the benefit of the doubt.
I would be willing to let my supervisor have complete control over my future in this company.
I really wish I had a good way to keep an eye on my supervisor.
If I had my way, I wouldn’t let my supervisor have any influence over issues that are important to me.

Source

Colquitt/Rodell (2011): Justice, trust, and trustworthiness: A longitudinal analysis integrating three theoretical perspectives. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 54, No. 6, pp. 1183–1206

Comments

The appendix of the Colquitt/Rodell article includes several other trust scales used in past research on trust and justice. It is recommended to take the following article into consideration before measuring trust-related constructs: Whipple et al. (2013), Conceptualizations of Trust: Can We Trust Them?, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 34, No. 2.

Trust (alpha = 0.85)

Description

Trust was measured using a Likert-type scale (1 - strongly disagree; 5 - strongly agree) adapted from Aulakh et al. (1996) and Sako/Helper (1998) that captures fairness, reliability, and goodwill among alliance partners.

Definition

Interorganizational trust is defined as the expectation held by one firm that another will not exploit its vulnerabilities when faced with the opportunity to do so. The definition bases interorganizational trust on three related components: reliability, fairness, and goodwill.

Items

Sometimes our foreign partner changes facts slightly in order to get what they want. (reverse-coded)
Our foreign partner has promised to do things without actually doing them later. (reverse-coded)
Our foreign partner has given us truthful and valuable information even when it did not form part of the contract.
Our firm is generally doubtful of the information provided to us by our foreign partner. (reverse-coded)
Our foreign partner firm is generally doubtful of the information we provide them. (reverse-coded)

Source

Krishnan et al. (2006): When Does Trust Matter To Alliance Performance? Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 894–917.

Comments

It is recommended to take the following article into consideration before measuring trust-related constructs: Whipple et al. (2013), Conceptualizations of Trust: Can We Trust Them?, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 34, No. 2.

Related Scales

Trust (AVE = 0.77; CR = 0.89)

Description

A previously used scale by Morgan & Hunt (1994) was adapted to measure trust.

Items

This company can generally be trusted. (0.76)
I trust this company. (0.79)
I have great confidence in this company. (0.83)
This company has high integrity. (0.76)
I can depend on this company to do the right thing. (0.74)
This company can be relied upon. (0.76)

Source

Walsh & Beatty (2007): Customer-based Corporate Reputation of a Service Firm: Scale Development and Validation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 127-143.

Comments

It is recommended to take the following article into consideration before measuring trust-related constructs: Whipple et al. (2013), Conceptualizations of Trust: Can We Trust Them?, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 34, No. 2.