Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Trust-Supporting Components in Virtual Communities for Patients.

Author List: Leimeister, Jan Marco; Ebner, Winfried; Krcmar, Helmut;
Journal of Management Information Systems, 2005, Volume 21, Issue 4, Page 101-135.
Trust provides the foundation for the successful implementation and operation of a virtual community (VC). Trust is an especially relevant success factor in online health-care communities. A look at existing communities leads to the conclusion that many VCs fail to meet requirements upon which trust is established. Based on the findings in the literature and the researchers' experience, this paper describes how trust-enabling functionalities can be systematically designed and implemented in a VC for cancer patients. Consequently, the outcomes of these design measures are evaluated. The evaluation results show that supporting trust can be achieved following a two-step model. The presented components support the perceived competence and perceived goodwill of the operators and the other members. Perceived goodwill and competence then support the process of creating and sustaining trust between members as well as between members and the operators of the VC and contribute to the successful implementation and maintenance of the community. The paper concludes with a discussion on further trust-supporting components yet to be implemented and gives recommendations for further research in this area.
Keywords: access rights; anonymity; health care; online community; perceived competence; perceived goodwill; quality-assured content; transparency criteria; trust; virtual community
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#45 0.200 community communities online members participants wikipedia social member knowledge content discussion collaboration attachment communication law virtual membership structures forms activities
#207 0.133 design artifacts alternative method artifact generation approaches alternatives tool science generate set promising requirements evaluation problem designed incentives components addressing
#46 0.091 perceived transparency control design enjoyment experience study diagnosticity improve features develop consequences showing user experiential providing antecedents interface effects economy
#157 0.084 evaluation effectiveness assessment evaluating paper objectives terms process assessing criteria evaluations methodology provides impact literature potential important evaluated identifying multiple
#172 0.076 trust trusting study online perceived beliefs e-commerce intention trustworthiness relationships benevolence initial importance trust-building examines discussed building future context transactions
#221 0.073 competence experience versus individual disaster employees form npd concept context construct effectively focus functionalities front-end knowledge-intensive stage explores set definition
#119 0.065 implementation systems article describes management successful approach lessons design learned technical staff used effort developed organization experiences large managing discusses
#196 0.052 health healthcare medical care patient patients hospital hospitals hit health-care telemedicine systems records clinical practices physician electronic physicians longitudinal outcomes