The Dual Role of Trust in System Use

Many studies have shown that trust is an important cognition that drives the continued use of information systems. The theoretical reasoning behind this effect has been that trust helps people rule out undesirable, yet possible, opportunistic behaviors, and ultimately makes users more at ease regarding transacting with a website. In this study, we build on the relationship marketing literature and argue that trust may have an even broader role in post-adoption contexts than previously assumed. Not only can trust influence system use intentions directly (a dedication mechanism), but also indirectly through the promotion of social investment in a relationship with a system and its users. This social investment represents a procedural-relational switching cost (a constraint mechanism) which further increases continuance intent. Data collected from 382 social networking website users support the hypotheses and validate the proposed dual-role of trust. Implications for research and practice are discussed.