Consumer trust and distrust: An issue of website design

Researchers have long speculated about the distinction between trust and distrust, yet the majority of studies on trust have treated them as essentially the same construct on opposite ends of a continuum. In order to resolve this ambiguity, we propose a theoretical framework to investigate the antecedents and influences of trust and distrust in the online shopping context, relying on the literature of website design and consumer trust, ambivalence theories, as well as emerging studies on distrust in the work place. Our findings indicate that trust and distrust are two separate concepts by reason of their distinct cognitions, different antecedents and different influences on consequent outcomes. In particular, the results show that specific website design attributes have distinct effects on shaping consumers’ trust and distrust. These findings suggest new ways in which website attributes can be fine-tuned by website designers and managers.

Research highlights
► Trust and distrust are two separate concepts by reason of their distinct cognition, different antecedents and different influence on consequent outcomes.
► Website design attributes have asymmetric impacts on shaping consumers' trust and distrust in the online shopping context.
► The influences of trust and distrust on buying intention are asymmetric in that distrust weighs more heavily in terms of lowering buying intention than trust does in terms of enhancing buying intention.
► A consumer's functional perception and motivating perception have asymmetric effects on a consumer's buying intention.
► Theoretical implications on ambivalence research and new insights about positive and negative manifestations have been emphasized.