Abstract
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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Möllering, G.: Trust: Reason, Routine Reflexivity. Elsevier Ltd., Oxford (2006)
Luhmann, N.: Familiarity, confidence, trust: problems and alternatives. In: Gambetta, D. (ed.) Trust: Making and breaking cooperative relations, pp. 94–107. Basil Blackwell, Oxford (1988)
Putnam, R.: Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York (2001)
Corritore, C., Kracher, B., Wiedenbeck, S.: On-line trust: concepts, evolving themes, a model. Trust and Technology 58, 737 (2003)
Wang, Y.D., Emurian, H.H.: An overview of online trust: Concepts, elements and implications. Computers in Human Behaviour 105 (2005)
Rousseau, D.M., Sitkin, S.B., Burt, R.S., Camerer, C.: Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. Academy of Management Review 23, 393 (1998)
Bhattacharya, R., Devinney, T.M., Pillutla, M.M.: A formal model of trust based on outcomes. Academy of Management Review 23, 459 (1998)
Shankar, V., Urban, G.L., Sultan, F.: Online trust: a stakeholder perspective, concepts, implications and future directions. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 325 (2002)
Shneiderman, B.: Designing trust into online experiences. ACM Commun. 43, 57 (2000)
Ba, S.: Establishing online trust through a community responsibility system. Decision Support Systems 323 (2001)
Brownlie, J., Howson, A.: ‘Leaps of faith’ and MMR: An empirical study of trust. Sociology 39, 221 (2005)
Kidd, J.B.: Book Review – Trust: Reason, Routine, Reflexivity. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 4, 254 (2006)
Nooteboom, B.: Book Review Organization Studies 27, 1907 (December 1, 2006)
boyd, d.m., Ellison, N.B.: Social Network Sites: Definition, history and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2007)
Heesakkers, P.: Participate in creating a better world, one couch at a time: An explorative study on the phenomenon of Couchsurfing. Thesis published by NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences (2008)
Molz, J.G.: Cosmopolitans on the couch: Mobile hospitality and the Internet. In: Jennie Germann Molz, S.G. (ed.) Mobilizing Hospitality: The Ethics of Social Relations in a Mobile World, Ashgate, Hampshire, pp. 65–80 (2007)
Lauterbach, D., Truong, H., Shah, T., Adamic, L.: Surfing a web of trust: Reputation and reciprocity on Couchsurfing.com. In: IEEE International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, vol. 4, p. 4, pp. 346–353 (2009)
Bialski, P.: Intimate Tourism: Friendships in a state of mobility – The case of the online hospitality network. Thesis published by University of Warsaw (2007)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Tan, JE. (2010). The Leap of Faith from Online to Offline: An Exploratory Study of Couchsurfing.org. In: Acquisti, A., Smith, S.W., Sadeghi, AR. (eds) Trust and Trustworthy Computing. Trust 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6101. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13869-0_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13869-0_27
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-13868-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-13869-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)