The Role of Language in the Establishment of Trust between Organisations

Trust has been identified as one of the major factors in the success, failure and adoption of Business to Business Electronic Commerce by firms. In the context of Electronic Marketplaces (EM) in particular, studies have found that issues related to trust have been primarily caused by cultural differences and communication (information exchange) problems that have been created by the unique characteristics of E-Marketplaces. Language used between parties that is likely to effect the establishment of trust in online environment has not been well explored in the literature. This paper therefore presents a preliminary study that investigates and examines the role of language used between parties in facilitating the establishment of trust. We shows that better use of language based on the culture of the E-Marketplace participants and what information needs to be communicated may have a positive impact on the overall trust established between the two firms. Some implications for academics and practitioners are outlined.