The Role of Third-Party Seals in Building Trust Online

The current landscape of existing third- party seal programs is surveyed, their role in building trust between vendors and consumers is examined, and the challenges that lie ahead are discussed.

Abstract

Third-party seal programs, such as BBBOnLine, have emerged as a thriving e-service for building consumer trust on the Internet. Given the impersonal nature of electronic commerce, third-party seals are well positioned to act as the intermediary between competitive online vendors and nervous online consumers. This article surveys the current landscape of existing third- party seal programs, examines their role in building trust between vendors and consumers, and discusses the challenges that lie ahead.