Building users' trust in freeware providers and the effects of this trust on users' perceptions of usefulness, ease of use and intended use of freeware

Trust plays an essential role in enabling and determining the outcomes and quality of social and business interactions that involve a potential high cost failure combined with a lack of control. Similar conditions exist when downloading freeware--software from the World Wide Web (WWW). Consequently, according to social exchange theory and related research, the degree of trust that users have in the software provider should directly affect users' expected rewards from it, or, according to the Technology Acceptance Model, its perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use--widely accepted determinants of intended use.; This research examined the meaning, effects and antecedents of users' trust in freeware providers through an experimental instrument that manipulated the three trust building mechanisms suggested by Zucker (1986): institutional guarantors, provider's characteristics, and the process of interaction. The experimental design was administered to a large sample of evening business students (mostly graduates) in an American business school in the South--a sample of the targeted population of working educated adults in current or future managerial positions.; The study showed that, indeed, users' trust in the freeware providers plays a significant role in determining their perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, and their intentions to download and try out the freeware. This trust, however, is a three dimensional construct composed of a combined dimension of integrity and intentions, a dimension of trust in the provider's ability, and a dimension of trust in the provider's openness. The research further shows that the mechanisms and perceptions that built trust are all reflections of a two-way interaction between the users and the providers, specifically, users' perceptions of influence and of the provider's responsiveness. The study also suggests that the combined dimension of integrity and intention is an anchor for the other two types of trust; this dimension is the most affected by the trust building mechanisms and perceptions and is the most influential in its effects on perceived usefulness, ease of use and intentions to use. Outcomes of the study also include a verified scale of the multi-dimensional trust beliefs as relevant in the context of freeware, and perceptions that build users' trust combined with managerial guidelines for freeware providers. These results are of importance given the growing trend to market new software through the Internet as freeware.