Towards trust and reputation for e-commerce in collectivist rural Africa

Individualistic cultures that prevail in predominantly developed economies thrive on ecommerce environments where consumer trust is facilitated through trust mechanisms such as institutional guarantees, laws and policies, information security mechanisms, and social controls. These trust mechanisms are based on individualist cultural norms of behaviour and values, and are not always relevant to collectivist cultures found in predominantly developing economies such as Africa or South America. The influence of individualist and collectivist culture on consumer trust is discussed in the context of e-commerce. The research aims at providing trust properties that can facilitate consumer trust, required for the success of ecommerce, to rural African environments.