Online trust : A multinational study on students’ perception of strategic corporate web communication.

Online trust is essential for companies wanting to succeed in the global market today, where web based communication is by far the most efficient way to reach potential clients. A global market brings globally diverse customers and, subsequently, questions on possible cultural differences arise. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the creation of trust for a web user visiting a corporate website. The thesis also aims to explore if the creation of trust online could be connected to national culture. Through 12 semi-structured interviews with university students from the USA, Spain and Japan, their experience of online trust is investigated. The results of the interviews are then discussed with a background in Kim, Ferrin and Rao’s holistic model of trust and decision-making, and the dimensions of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance presented by Hofstede. The findings of the study are that the holistic model of trust and decision-making in most aspects seems to be true for the participating students, proposing an additional relationship-building aspect to the model. No clear connections to Hofstede’s dimensions have been found, even though some differences between the national groups in the study can be observed when it comes to the creation of online trust