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Cited by 553Social Robot Interaction and HRITechnology Adoption and User BehaviourInnovative Human-Technology Interaction

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Technology, Humanness, and Trust: Rethinking Trust in Technology

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Marshall University, Lankton, Nancy, McKnight, D. Harrison, Michigan State University, Tripp, John, Baylor University·2015·Journal of the Association for Information Systems
DOI 10.17705/1jais.00411
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Abstract

Information systems (IS) research has demonstrated that humans can and do trust technology. The current trust in technology literature employs two different types of trust in technology constructs. Some researchers use human-like trust constructs (e.g., benevolence, integrity, and ability), while other researchers use system-like trust constructs (e.g., helpfulness, reliability, and functionality). Interestingly, past research shows that both sets of measures influence important dependent variables, but the literature does not explain when one type should be used instead of the other type. In this paper, we use trust, social presence, and affordance theories to shed light on this research problem. We report on two studies. In study 1, we argue first that technologies vary in their perceived “humanness”. Second, we argue that, because users perceive two technologies to differ in humanness, they will develop trust in each technology differently (i.e., along more human-like criteria or more system-like criteria). We study two technologies that vary in humanness to explore these differences theoretically and empirically. We demonstrate that, when the trust construct used aligns well with how human the technology is, it produces stronger effects on selected outcome variables than does a misaligned trust construct. In study 2, we assess whether these technologies differ in humanness based on social presence, social affordances, and affordances for sociality. We find that these factors do distinguish whether technology is more human-like or system-like. We provide implications for trust-in-technology research.

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Metadata

Authors
Marshall University, Lankton, N., McKnight, D. H., Michigan State University, Tripp, J., & Baylor University
Affiliations
  • Marshall University (US)
  • Michigan State University (US)
  • Baylor University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Publisher
Association for Information Systems
Published
2015-10
Volume
16
Issue
10
Pages
880-918
ISSN
1536-9323 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.17705/1jais.00411
OpenAlex
W1854663754
Cited by
553
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 102 · 2025: 99 · 2024: 93 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 3
FWCI
13.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of the Association for Information Systems (publishedVersion)
  • Journal of the Association for Information Systems (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Technology Adoption and User Behaviour
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
Keywords
trust in technology, benevolence, integrity, helpfulness, reliability, social presence, social affordances

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