The impacts of social trust on open and closed B2B e-commerce: A Europe-based study

The increasing popularity of open standards in B2B e-commerce demands more research on generalized trust. This study investigates how a country's social trust affects the use of open and closed B2B e-commerce. The analysis based on data from 27 European and related countries shows that social trust in a country promotes the use of open B2B e-commerce, but it impedes the use of closed B2B e-commerce. In addition, social trust negatively moderates the relationship between firm-level IT experience and closed B2B e-commerce. Our results highlight the important role of social trust in B2B e-commerce, especially in open e-commerce.