Digital Work Assistance in Decision-Making: Information Richness, Trustworthiness, and Propensity to Trust

Purpose: In an increasingly digital and complex world, technologies can be used as a decision-making assistance for employees. Trust in so-called assistive technologies is a key factor in this respect. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of information richness, trustworthiness and individual trust disposition on the trust in digital work assistants. Theory: We examined trust in technology by means of the construct of trusting intent, i.e. the perception that the technology can be trusted. Based on the organizational theory of trust (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995; Schoorman, 2007) and previous empirical evidence, we expect that the higher information richness, trustworthiness and propensity to trust, the higher the trusting intention will be. Design: Using an online survey, we presented four versions of a dashboard to 77 participants to help them make an important decision within a given scenario. The four versions were presented randomly and differed in their information richness. The participants then answered questions about the perceived information sufficiency, perceived trustworthiness (honesty, integrity, competence), propensity to trust and trusting intention. We also assessed age and gender, for which we controlled in the analyses. Findings: In the version of the dashboard that shows the visualization with the highest information richness, not only the trusting intention is highest, but also the perception of having sufficient information and the confidence in the decision made. We further demonstrate that trusting intention is positively influenced when the technology is perceived as honest and competent. We could not find a significant relation between integrity and propensity to trust on trusting intention. Originality: Developing suitable digital work assistance that supports decision-making at work is associated with several challenges. In this article we have explored trust and demonstrated that information richness and trustworthiness (honesty and competence) are relevant. Based on this study, we discuss design challenges that should serve as a basis for a more trustworthy design of digital work assistance.