Overcoming the impersonal Internet with a little bit of trust

When most Internet users list what they like about using the Internet to shop or get product information, the descriptions they provide usually relate to convenience, price, ease-of-use and efficiency. Rarely does the word trust come up. But an MIT Sloan professor has developed a system called “WebTrust” that some Internet sites are trying out. The system was developed after years of research by Prof. Glen Urban, who looked at what elements affected human trust and how that could be translated into web offerings.

The WebTrust system is based on Urban’s notion that too many web sites are extensions of the companies’ catalog business, where they push products rather than listen to what consumers want and recommend products that fit the customers’ needs. In order to make this model work, customers need to trust the companies. Elements of trust that need to be incorporated into web offerings include competency, objectivity, and comprehensiveness, he says.

In the case of General Motors, the automaker is using the model in its autochoiceadvisor.com web site. There, customers answer questions about what they like in cars, how much they want to spend and which features are important to them. The site then recommends the car best suited to their needs—even if the car is not a GM model. While GM risks losing a customer this way, it is gaining valuable information from the site in looking at what customers are asking for and then looking for “holes” in its product lines where it is not meeting consumer needs, an MIT spokesman says.

Intel is using the system at its site where customers request software downloads. Here, customers are asked a series of questions before Intel recommends software products. The system has increased software sales as well as reduced the cost of direct customer service, executives says. Intel found that improved navigation increased download success by a factor of 5 percentage points and saved the company $10 million per year in reduced telephone support calls and mailing costs, according to MIT Sloan information.