Master’s Dissertation

2015

Building Initial Trust between Users andTechnologies for High Technology ProductAdoption
Kazuki Endo
Student ID Number

Supervisor

81433078	 

Professor Masaru Nakano

March 2016

Graduate School of System Design and Management,
Keio University
Major in System Design and Management

SUMMARY OF MASTER’S DISSERTATION
Student
Identification
Number81433078

Name

Kazuki Endo

Title

Building Initial Trust between Users and Technologies
for High Technology Product Adoption
Abstract
Today is the era of innovation. Nowadays, various high technologies have been developed and theyare driving emergence of many innovative products day by day. However, even though they havegreat potentials for solving formidable problems we are facing, their diffusion is still difficult. Oneobstacle is building user’s trust in those innovative products because users tend to have suspicion
and anxiety toward the future outcome and experience those products will deliver due to their“new-to-the-world” nature. This research attempts to this challenging issue.
Much previous research on trust focuses on human-human relationships, so studying trust inusers-technologies relationships is still insufficient. Furthermore, there is a gap between the theory
on how trust is built and the strategy about how we build trust. In order to bridge the theory and thepractical strategy, this study aims to develop the new comprehensive method for designing trust
building strategies for users and high-tech products relationships.
Firstly, we examine predefinitions of trust crossing multiple academic domains. Also, anxiety,doubt, suspicion and other related concepts of negative side of trust are investigated. Concepts ofanxiety and doubt are discovered. How the negative of trust depreciates trust is further explored.
Applying these concepts and mechanisms into several cased of high-tech innovations, High-Tech
Product Trustworthiness Matrix (HTPTM) is developed, which describes eight constitutes oftrustworthiness in high-tech products. Next, we investigate the mechanism and natures of trust
building and trust evolution. In addition, communication theories are also explored. Based on
characteristics of trust building, trust dynamics, trust transfer and quality requirements ofcommunication for enhancing trustworthiness of high-tech products, we develop Trust Building
Patterns Hierarchy (TBPH), which is the hierarchical fundamental structure of any trust building
strategies. Finally, the original trust building method in users and high-tech products relationships
using HTPTM and TBPH is proposed. This method enables us to explore and design strategic
options for trust building in high-tech products comprehensively and systematically. By conducting
case studies and interviews with practitioners, effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed.
The contribution of the study is to firstly propose the comprehensive method for designing trust
building strategies by providing essential viewpoints of building trust in high-tech products, which
can be applicable to high-tech products in broad domains.
Key Word(5 words)
Trust, Trust Building, High Technology, Communication, Innovation Adoption