Investigating Antecedents and Development of Trust in Ridesharing Platform: A Case from China

Abstract

Trust is playing an important role in the sharing economy-driven business. However, little research has been conducted measuring trust as a dynamic process in the sharing economy era. This research is a preliminary exploration investigating trust antecedents and the dynamic development of clients’ trust in ridesharing platforms. We used 102 two-stage interviews collected from clients of a major Chinese ridesharing platform. Then we conducted a qualitative content analysis and proposed a theoretical model based on literature and data analysis. We found that antecedents of trust in two stages are different. Personality-based beliefs and cognition-based beliefs are the main antecedents of initial trust, while knowledge-based beliefs, institution-based beliefs, and calculus-based beliefs are the main antecedents of ongoing trust. These findings could help us understand how trust evolves over time and enable us to explore several viewpoints on ridesharing platforms.