An outline of a trust model for electronic commerce

A generic model of trust for electronic commerce is presented. The basic components of the model are party trust and control trust. It is argued that an agent's trust in a transaction with another party is a combination of the trust in the other party and the trust in the control mechanisms for the successful performance of the transaction. The generic trust model can be used for the design of trust related value-added services in electronic commerce. To illustrate this design use of the model, two activities in electronic commerce are compared that require trust, namely electronic payment and cross-border electronic trade. It is shown with the model that these two activities actually require two different types of trust, and that complete different services are needed to create these different types of trust.