Designing trust into online experiences
Communications of the ACM
Establishing online trust through a community responsiblity system
Decision Support Systems
On-line trust: concepts, evolving themes, a model
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies - Special issue: Trust and technology
Surfing a Web of Trust: Reputation and Reciprocity on CouchSurfing.com
CSE '09 Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering - Volume 04
Account sharing in the context of networked hospitality exchange
Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing
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This paper takes an interpretative approach to study trust in a hybrid online/offline community, based on exploratory research on the case of Couchsurfing. org, a hospitality exchange network that enables travelers to locate locals who would offer them free accommodation or tips regarding the country traveled. The theoretical framework used was Möllering's idea of "suspension" and the leap of faith [1], which looks at trust in terms of dealing with irreducible vulnerability and uncertainty. Qualitative data was collected by doing participant observation and interviewing 15 Couchsurfers about their views on trust. Möllering's theoretical framework is found to be useful to transcend the idiosyncrasies of observing online profiles. It is also demonstrated through understanding the interpretations of the actors within the system, rich insights are yielded about the context of trust and the actors' reactions.