Situating trust challenges of online trade

Purpose This paper aims to offer an improved understanding of trust challenges in online trade, providing examples of issues that should be addressed for a trustworthy online environment. It also aims to illustrate how records and recordkeeping can contribute in terms of enabling trust and accountability. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on results from a self-ethnographic study of online trade (Engvall, 2017); the results are analyzed further. Kelton, Fleischmann and Wallace’s (2008) model for trust is used to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of the challenges and where they should be addressed. Findings This paper recognizes that there are different types of trust challenges at different levels – individual, between clients and businesses and at a societal level – that should be addressed at these levels in different ways. Originality/value This paper provides an understanding of trust challenges in the online environment.