A trust agent for e-commerce: looking for clues

Features of trust or trust attributes are often presented to the consumer by some clues on the homepage. To date, which clue is associated with which trust attributes and the degree of the correlation between clues on the homepage and consumer perceptions towards trust attributes has received little attention. In a study with ninety sites, clues linked to trust attributes were identified and tested against consumer perceptions. The results show that clues correspond to the consumer searching strategy for trust attributes. The clues are used as a basis for developing a personal trust agent (PTA) to assist consumers in assessing the trustworthiness of e-commerce (EC) Websites.