The role of post-adoption phase trust in B2C e-service loyalty:: towards a more comprehensive picture

Despite the extensive interest in trust within information systems (IS) and e-commerce disciplines, only few studies examine trust in the post-adoption phase of the customer relationship. Not only gaining new customers by increasing adoption, but also keeping the existing ones loyal, is largely considered important for e-business success. This paper scrutinizes the role of trust in customer loyalty, focusing on B2C e-services by conducting a three-sectional literature review stemming from IS, e-commerce and marketing. The key findings of this study are: 1. Literature discussing the role of trust after the adoption phase is relatively scarce and fragmented 2. In the empirical testing trust is mostly viewed as a monolith 3. Quantitative research methods dominate the field 4. Since trust may play a role during the whole relationship, also dynamic ways to scrutinize trust would be appropriate. Implications of these findings are discussed and ideas for further research suggested.