Online C to C platforms rely on multiple evaluation tools (ratings, calculated reputation, and online reviews) to generate the trust that is essential for transactions. What are the sources of trust when these tools are absent (or not used)? From an ethnography of private transactions via leboncoin.fr, this contribution reveals the mechanisms of trust in this context. The Goffmanian approach adopted enables us to highlight the rules of trust and their role in maintaining and repairing trust situations (commitment, normality, proximity, readability, and unveiling). This research contributes to the marketing literature by supplementing the work on the evaluative and calculated character of trust and by proposing a cross-channel analysis incorporating online trust. It opens up alternative perspectives for framing C to C exchanges and studying cross-channel consumer behavior.
Abdul-GhaniEHydeKFMarshallR (2011) Emic and etic interpretations of engagement with a consumer-to-consumer online auction site. Journal of Business Research64(10): 1060–1066.
2.
AkerlofG (1970) The market for “lemons”: Quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics84(3): 488–500.
3.
AkroutWAkroutH (2011) Trust in B-to-B: Toward a dynamic and integrative approach. Research and Applications in Marketing26(1): 1–21.
4.
ArnouldEWallendorfM (1994) Market-oriented ethnography: Interpretation building and marketing strategy formulation. Journal of Marketing Research31: 484–504.
BardhiFArnouldEJ (2005) Thrift shopping: Combining utilitarian thrift and hedonic treat benefits. Journal of Consumer Behaviour4(4): 223–233.
7.
BartYShankarVFareenaSUrbanG (2005) Are the drivers and role of online trust the same for all web sites and consumers? A Large-scale exploratory empirical study. Journal of Marketing694: 133–152.
8.
Bauhain-RouxDGuiotD (2001) Le développement du marché de l’occasion: Caractéristiques et enjeux pour le marché du neuf. Décisions Marketing24: 25–35.
9.
BeaudSWeberF (2010) Guide de l’enquête de terrain: produire et analyser des données ethnographiques. Paris: La découverte.
10.
BeauvisageTBeuscartJCardonVMelletK (2013) Ratings and consumer reviews on the web. Networks177(1): 131–161.
11.
BelkRSherryJWallendorfM (1988) A naturalistic inquiry into buyer and seller behavior at a swap meet. Journal of Consumer Research14(4): 449–470.
12.
BenaventC (2016) Platforms. Paris: FYPP Ed.
13.
Benmoyal-BouzagloSBoissinotA (2014) The role of logistics in establishing a trust relationship between seller and buyer in C to C: The case of “Le Boncoin.”Logistique & Management22(3): 7–15.
14.
Benmoyal-BouzagloSBoissinotAParaschivC (2020) Le marketing en acte des non-specialistes: le cas des particuliers vendeurs en ligne de produits d’occasion. Gérer et Comprendre (Annales des Mines)139: 1–11.
BoydJ (2002) In community we trust: Online security communication at eBay. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication7: 3.
17.
BranamanA (1997) Goffman’s social theory. In: LemmertCBranamanA (eds) The Goffman Reader. Cambridge: Blackwell, pp. 45–80.
18.
ChaudhuriAHolbrookMB (2001) The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: The role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing65(2): 81–93.
19.
ChevalierJMayzlinD (2006) The effect of word of mouth on sales: Online book reviews. Journal of Marketing Research43(3): 345–354.
20.
ChoukIPerrienJ (2004) Les facteurs expliquant la confiance du consommateur lors d’un achat sur un site marchand: une étude exploratoire. Décisions Marketing34: 75–86.
21.
ChoukIPerrienJ (2005) La confiance du consommateur vis-à-vis d’un marchand Internet: proposition d’une échelle de mesure. Revue Française du Marketing205(5): 5–20.
22.
ColemanJS (1990) Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press.
23.
DarkePBenediktusRBradyM (2013) Consumer (dis)trust online. In: BelkRLlamasR (eds) The Routledge Companion to Digital Consumption. London: Routledge, pp. 404–414.
24.
DavidA (2005) Etude de cas et généralisation scientifique en sciences de gestion. Revue Sciences de Gestion39: 139–166.
25.
DecropA (2017) La consommation collaborative: Enjeux et défis de la nouvelle société du partage. Louvain-la-Neuve: De Boeck Superieur.
26.
DucrouxS (2009) Confiance du consommateur dans l’enseigne en situation d’incertitude irrésolue: le cas de la grande distribution spécialisée. PhD Thesis, University of Tours, Tours.
27.
DumezH (2016) Méthodologie de la recherche qualitative: les questions clés de la démarche compréhensive. Paris: Vuibert.
28.
FerrinDLKimPHCooperCDDirksKT (2007) Silence speaks volumes: The effectiveness of reticence in comparison to apology and denial for responding to integrity- and competence-based trust violations. Journal of Applied Psychology92: 893–908.
29.
FrisouJ (2000) Interpersonal trust and commitment: A behaviourist reorientation. Marketing Research and Applications15(1): 63–80.
30.
GabarinoEJohnsonMS (1999) The different roles of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer relationships. Journal of Marketing63: 70–87.
31.
GallenCCasesA (2007) The role of perceived risk and experience in online wine buying. Marketing Decisions45: 1–16.
32.
GambettaD (1988) Trust: Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
33.
Garcia-BardidiaR (2014) Getting rid of objects on leboncoin.fr. A practice between gift and market?Revue du MAUSS44(2): 271–285.
34.
Garcia-BardidiaRTrizzullaC (2013) Faire (des) affaire(s) sur leboncoin.fr: des pratiques entre autonomisation et exclusion. Nantes: Association Française de Sociologie.
35.
GiddensA (1994) The Consequences of Modernity. Paris: L’Harmattan.
36.
GoffmanE (1973) The Staging of Everyday Life. Volume 1. The Presentation of Oneself. Tome 2. Les Relations En Public. Paris: Editions de minuit.
37.
GoffmanE (1974) Les rites d’interaction. Paris: Editions de Minuit.
38.
GoffmanE (1975) Stigma: The Social Uses of Disabilities. Paris: Editions de Minuit.
39.
GoffmanE (1983) The interaction order. American Sociological Review48(1): 1–17.
40.
GoffmanE (1987) Façons de parler. Paris: Editions de Minuit.
41.
GoffmanE (2002) L’arrangement des sexes (Le genre du monde). Paris: La Dispute.
42.
GuibertN (1999) La confiance en marketing: fondements et applications. Recherche et Applications en Marketing14(1): 1–19.
43.
GurviezPKorchiaM (2002) Proposal of a multidimensional measurement scale of brand trust. Marketing Research and Applications17(3): 41–61.
44.
HerbertMCollin LachaudI (2017) Collaborative practices and consumerist habitus: An analysis of the transformative mechanisms of collaborative consumption. Marketing Research and Applications32(1): 42–62.
45.
HineC (2000) Virtual Ethnography. London: SAGE.
46.
HineC (2015) Ethnography for the Internet. Embedded, Embodied and Everyday. London: Bloomsbury
47.
HouserDWoodersJ (2006) Reputation in auctions: Theory, and evidence from eBay. Journal of Economics & Management15(2): 353–369.
48.
JonesKLeonardLN (2008) Trust in consumer-to-consumer electronic commerce. Information & Management45(2): 88–95.
49.
JosangARoslandIBoydCA (2007) A survey of trust and reputation systems for online service provision. Decision Support Systems43(2): 618–644.
50.
JugeE (2018) La fabrique des conso-marchands: une approche par les dispositifs sociotechniques dans le contexte de la consommation collaborative. PhD Thesis, Université de Lille, Lille.
51.
JugeECollin LachaudIRouxD (2019) Extension of the domain of entrepreneurship in the practice of vide-dressing. Revue Française de Gestion45(284): 31–49.
52.
KarpikL (1996) Dispositifs de confiance et engagements crédibles. Sociologie du Travail38(4): 527–550.
53.
KarpikL (1998) La confiance: réalité ou illusion ? Examen critique d’une thèse de Williamson. Revue Économique49: 1043–1056.
54.
KarpikL (2007) The Economy of Singularities. Paris: Nrf – Gallimard.
KimPHDirksKTCooperCD (2009) The repair of trust: A dynamic bilateral perspective and multilevel conceptualization. The Academy of Management Review34(3): 401–422.
57.
KozinetsR (2002) The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research39(1): 61–72.
58.
Le GoffA (2013) Identity, recognition and the order of interaction in E. Goffman. In: CéfaïDPerreauL (eds) Goffman and the Order of Interaction. Paris: CURAPP, PUF, pp. 369–390.
59.
LemaitreNDe BarnierV (2015) When the consumer becomes a merchant: Motivations, experience production and perspectives. Marketing Decisions78: 11–28.
60.
LemoineLGuesmiSHadhriW (2017) La construction de la confiance sur une plateforme de l’économie collaborative. A qualitative study of a carpooler’s choice criteria on BlaBlaCar. Question(s) de management4(19): 77–89.
61.
LichtléMCPlichonV (2008) Mieux comprendre la fidélité de consommateurs. Recherche et Applications en Marketing23(4): 121–141.
62.
LuhmannN (2001) Confiance et familiarité – Problèmes et alternatives. Réseaux, Lavoisier108(4): 15–35.
MisztalB (2001) Normality and trust in Goffman’s theory of interaction order. Sociological Theory19(3): 312–324.
69.
MorganRHuntS (1994) The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing58: 20–38.
70.
MunzelA (2015) Beware of fake reviews! Experimental investigations on contextual indicators facilitating the detection of misleading reviews by Internet users. Marketing Research and Applications30(4): 25–53.
71.
NeveuP (2019) Between profiles and discourse: “online” and “offline” environments as complementary data sources in a hospitality network. Recherches Qualitatives (24): 51–67.
72.
NizetJRigauxN (2005) The Sociology of Erving Goffman. Paris: La Découverte.
73.
PicardD (2001) Transitions and rituality in social interaction. Connexions76: 81–93.
74.
QuéréL (2005) Trust devices in public spaces. Réseaux132(4): 185–217.
75.
ReichfledFSchefterP (2000) E-loyalty: Your secret weapon on the web. Harvard Business Review78(4): 105–113.
76.
ResnickPZeckhauserR (2002) Trust among strangers in internet transactions: Empirical analysis of eBay’s reputation system. In: BayeMR (ed.) The Economics of the Internet and E-commerce. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 127–157.
77.
ResnickPZeckhauserRSwansonJLockwoodK (2006) The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment. Experimental Economics9(2): 79–101.
78.
RousseauDBitkinSBurtRCamererC (1998) Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. Academy of Management Review23(3): 393–404.
79.
RouxDGuillardV (2016) Circulations of objects between strangers in public space: An analysis of forms of sociality between droppers and gleaners. Marketing Research and Applications31(4): 30–49.
80.
RouxDGuiotD (2008) Une mesure des motivations envers l’achat d’occasion, leurs antécédents et leurs conséquences. Recherche et Applications en Marketing23(4): 63–95.
81.
SimmelG (1999) Sociologie. Paris: PUF.
82.
SimonHA (1979) Rational decision making in business organizations [Nobel Memorial Lecture]. American Economic Review69(4): 493–513.
83.
SirieixLDuboisP-L (1999) Vers un modèle qualité-satisfaction intégrant la confiance. Recherche et Applications en Marketing14(3): 1–22.
84.
SleeT (2015) What’s Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy. New York; London: OR Books.
85.
StandifirdS (2001) Reputation and e-commerce: eBay auctions and the asymmetrical impact of positive and negative ratings. Journal of Management27(3): 279–295.
86.
StengerT (2006) La prescription dans le commerce en ligne: proposition d’un cadre conceptuel issu de la vente de vin par Internet. Revue Française du Marketing209: 71–85.
87.
StengerT (2008) Les processus de décision d’achat de vin par Internet: entre recherche d’information et prescription en ligne. Décisions Marketing49: 59–70.
88.
UrbanGAmyxCLorenzonA (2009) Online trust: State of the art, new frontiers, and research potential. Journal of Interactive Marketing23: 179–190.
89.
VishwanathA (2004) Manifestations of interpersonal trust in online interaction: A cross-cultural study comparing the differential utilization of seller ratings by eBay participants in Canada, France, and Germany. New Media & Society6(2): 219–234.
90.
WilliamsonO (1993) Calculativeness, trust, and economic organization. The Journal of Law and Economics36(1): 453–486.
91.
WinkinY (1988) Erving Goffman: les moments et leurs hommes. Paris: Editions de Minuit.
