School of Business

Examining trust as key drivers in smart disclosure for sustainable consumption: The case of I-choose

Document Type

Conference Paper

Abstract

Smart disclosure constitutes a form of open data policy that has the objective of promoting more sustainable economies and innovation by providing consumers with information to help them make better purchasing decisions. Trust in the information regarding product and certification is crucial for the adoption and usage of smart disclosure tools that make use of such information. In this paper, we investigate the determinants of trust in sustainable product information through a survey administered in Mexico and the United States. Our results suggest that brands and certificates reputation are important components to develop trust. Our results also suggest that additional information to verify label does not emerge as significant predictor to induce trust. We argue that to be useful, such information should be aggregated and presented to consumers in a simple way right at their fingertips. Finally, we found that support from government agencies and endorsement from non-for-profit organizations significantly influence consumer's trusting beliefs on sustainable practices information. Copyright © 2014 ACM.

Publication Title

ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Publication Date

1-1-2014

First Page

137

Last Page

146

ISBN

9781450329019

DOI

10.1145/2612733.2612747

Keywords

consumer trust, ethical consumption, private sector transparency, smart disclosure, supply-chain, sustainability

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