Universität zu Köln

Bente, Gary, Dratsch, Thomas, Kaspar, Kai ORCID: 0000-0002-5092-6798, Haessler, Tabea, Bungard, Oliver and Al-Issa, Ahmad (2014). Cultures of Trust: Effects of Avatar Faces and Reputation Scores on German and Arab Players in an Online Trust-Game. PLoS One, 9 (6). SAN FRANCISCO: PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Reputation systems as well as seller depictions (photos; avatars) have been shown to reduce buyer uncertainty and to foster trust in online trading. With the emergence of globalized e-markets, it remains an urgent question whether these mechanisms, found to be effective for Western cultures, also apply to other cultures. Hypothesizing that members of collectivistic cultures in contrast to those of individualistic cultures would rely more on visual social cues (seller faces) than on factual information (reputation scores), we compared buying decisions of Arab and German participants in an experimental trust game. Photo-realistic avatars were used instead of photos to control facial features and expressions. The results revealed significant main effects for both reputation scores and avatar faces. Moreover, both variables significantly affected the purchase behavior of Arab as well as German buyers, suggesting cross-cultural universals in the processing of trust cues. The results have implications for future cross-cultural studies in e-commerce as well as the design of online markets and shared virtual environments.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Bente, Gary UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Dratsch, Thomas UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kaspar, Kai UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-5092-6798 UNSPECIFIED Haessler, Tabea UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bungard, Oliver UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Al-Issa, Ahmad UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-435953
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0098297
Journal or Publication Title:	PLoS One
Volume:	9
Number:	6
Date:	2014
Publisher:	PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN FRANCISCO
ISSN:	1932-6203
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie
Subjects:	Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language E-COMMERCE; IMPACT; COOPERATION; ATTENTION; COGNITION; EMOTION; GENDER Multiple languages Multidisciplinary Sciences Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/43595