The Influence of Trust and Perceptions of Risks and Benefits on the Acceptance of Gene Technology

A causal model explaining acceptance of gene technology was tested. It was hypothesized that trust in institutions using gene technology or using modified products has a positive impact on perceived benefit and a negative influence on perceived risk of this technology. Furthermore, perceived benefit and perceived risk determine acceptance of biotechnology. In other words, trust has an indirect influence on the acceptance of the technology. The postulated model was tested using structural equation modeling procedures and data from a random quota sample of 1001 Swiss citizens between 18 and 74 years old. Results indicated that the proposed model fits the data very well. The same causal model explains females' and males' acceptance of gene technology. Gender differences were found for the latent variables trust, perceived benefit, and acceptance of gene technology. Females indicated more trust, perceived less benefit, and demonstrated less acceptance than did males. No significant difference was observed for perceived risk. The implications of the results are discussed.     

Trust,confidence, familiarity,and support for land-based recirculating aquaculture facilities

Surveys in three U.S. localities (n = 523) with proposed or existing land-based aquaculture facilities probed trust's relationship with perceived net benefits and public intentions to cooperate with siting of this novel technology. The trust, confidence, and cooperation (TCC) model posits that shared values shape willingness to be vulnerable to others (trust), while past performance shapes certainty that others will behave as expected (confidence). Trust affects confidence given moral outweighs performance information, possibly varying by familiarity. Other research suggests that trust shapes benefit and risk perceptions, which drive cooperation (defined here by potentially observable behavior: voting on siting, trying to influence government decisions directly or through citizen groups, and buying or eating facility fish). Confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a two-factor model fit the trust/confidence measures better than a one-factor model or a two-factor model without inter-factor correlation, indicating (despite a strong association of trust and confidence) that they are empirically distinct. Path analyses suggested that trust had stronger direct effects on cooperation than did confidence, reflecting the TCC notion that moral information underlying trust judgments is more influential, and stronger indirect effects through benefit-risk judgments. Model fit was better than if the benefit-risk mediator was omitted. Trust in government had a small direct effect on cooperation and confidence, but a large effect on trust in the corporation, and model fit was much worse if any of these paths was omitted. Low familiarity with the project lowered both model fit and trust–confidence association. We discuss implications for risk analysis theory and practice.     

Trust, the Asymmetry Principle, and the Role of Prior Beliefs

Within the risk literature there is an ongoing debate on whether trust is vulnerable or enduring. Previous research on nuclear energy by Slovic in 1993 has shown that negative events have much greater impact on self-reported trust than do positive events. Slovic attributes this to the asymmetry principle: specifically, that trust is much easier to destroy than to create. In a questionnaire survey concerning genetically modified (GM) food in Britain (n= 396) we similarly find that negative events have a greater impact on trust than positive events. Because public opinion in Britain is skewed in the direction of opposition toward GM food, the pattern of results could either be caused by the fact that negative information is more informative than positive information (a negativity bias) or reflect the influence of people's prior attitudes toward the issue (a confirmatory bias). The results were largely in line with the confirmatory bias hypothesis: participants with clear positive or negative beliefs interpreted events in line with their existing attitude position. However, for participants with intermediate attitudes, negative items still had greater impact than the positive. This latter finding suggests that, congruent with the negativity bias hypothesis, negative information may still be more informative than positive information for undecided people. The study also identified the labeling of GM products, consulting the public, making biotechnology companies liable for any damage, and making a test available to detect GM produce as being particularly important preconditions for maintaining trust in the regulation of agricultural biotechnology.     

Shared Values, Social Trust, and the Perception of Geographic Cancer Clusters

Extensive scientific investigations often fail to identify specific carcinogens that have caused geographic clusters of cancer cases. In many such examples, public health officials and other experts have concluded that the cluster is not the result of a particular local environmental condition. Despite this conclusion by experts, concerned members of local communities often persist in believing that the cancer cluster was not random. The present study accounts for the persistence of this belief on the basis of two factors: (a) the tendency of the human mind to identify patterns (and causes), rather than randomness; and (b) a lack of social trust in public health experts. It was expected that perceived shared values evoke social trust. Individuals who conclude that public health experts share their values should be more likely to accept the experts' conclusion that a cancer cluster reflects randomness, not a particular local cause. Individuals who trust authorities should be more inclined than individuals not having trust to accept that a geographic cluster of cancer cases is a coincidence. Data from Swiss students (N = 334) supported these expectations. Additionally, significant gender differences were observed. Females had less trust in authorities and perceived the cancer cluster as less likely to be a result of pure chance than did males. Practical implications of the results are discussed.     

政府支持、信任与供应链外部整合的关系研究

当前学术界对于影响供应链整合的因素、这些因素如何影响到供应链整合的研究相对匮乏。本研究则以广东省珠三角地区251家制造业为调查对象,构建了政府支持、信任与供应链外部整合之间关系的理论模型,以结构方程为工具,对政府支持、客户信任、供应商信任、客户整合、供应商整合之间的关系进行了实证研究。研究结果表明,政府支持对客户信任、供应商信任均有显著的正向影响;政府支持对客户整合、供应商整合也均有显著的影响;信任对供应链外部整合具有显著的正向影响;此外,政府支持会以信任为中介,间接地对供应链外部整合产生影响,本研究弥补了我国情境下制度与信任因素对供应链整合影响相关研究的空缺,研究结果对我国制造业进行高效供应链整合具有一定的启发意义。     

品牌信任对品牌态度、契合感知与延伸评价关系的影响

通过对278个有效样本的分析,重点考察了品牌信任对品牌态度、契合感知与延伸评价关系的影响。结果显示:品牌态度、契合感知对延伸评价有正向的影响关系;品牌信任对品牌态度与延伸评价关系具有部分中介作用;品牌信任对契合感知与延伸评价关系具有一定的调整作用。     

零售商对供应商的信任、控制机制使用和价值创造之间的关系研究

面对日益激烈的竞争环境,零售企业越来越注重与其供应商建立长期稳定的合作关系以应对挑战.本文研究的是垂直渠道关系中零售商对供应商的信任、控制机制的使用以及从与供应商关系中获得的关系价值之间的关系.通过对中国家电业414对零售商-供应商关系的问卷调研数据的分析,运用因子分析及结构方程的方法,验证了我们提出的概念模型及假设.本文研究结论表明零售商对供应商的不同水平的信任通过不同的控制机制的使用能为零售商带来不同的关系价值.     

Cultural Values,Trust, and Benefit‐Risk Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Elites and the General Public

Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has recently become a very intensely debated process for extracting oil and gas. Supporters argue that fracking provides positive economic benefits and energy security and offers a decreased reliance on coal‐based electricity generation. Detractors claim that the fracking process may harm the environment as well as place a strain on local communities that experience new fracking operations. This study utilizes a recently conducted survey distributed to a sample of policy elites and the general public in Arkansas and Oregon to examine the role of cultural value predispositions and trust in shaping the perceptions of risks and benefits associated with fracking. Findings indicate that cultural values influence both trust and benefit‐risk perceptions of fracking for both policy elites and the general public. More specifically, we found that trust in information from various sources is derived from the intrinsic values held by an individual, which in turn impacts perceptions of related benefits and risks. We also found that while the overall pattern of relationships is similar, trust plays a larger role in the formulation of attitudes for policy elites than for the general public. We discuss the implications of the mediating role of trust in understanding value‐driven benefit‐risk perceptions, as well as the disparate role of trust between policy elites and the general public in the context of the policy‐making process for both theory and practice.     

Weighing the Risks of Nuclear Energy and Climate Change: Trust in Different Information Sources,Perceived Risks,and Willingness to Pay for Alternatives to Nuclear Power

We examined how individuals perceive nuclear energy in the context of climate change mitigation and how their perceptions are associated with trust in different risk information sources. We analyzed the interrelationships between trust, perceived risk of nuclear power, climate change concern, perception of nuclear energy as an acceptable way to mitigate climate change, and willingness to pay (WTP) for alternatives to nuclear power. A nationwide survey (N = 967) collected in Finland was analyzed with structural equation modeling. The associations between trust and perceived risk of nuclear power, climate change concern, and perception of nuclear power as a way to mitigate climate change varied by the type of information source. Political party support and other background variables were associated with trust in different information sources. The effect of trust in information sources on WTP was mediated by perceived risks and benefits. The results will increase our understanding of how individuals perceive nuclear energy as a way to cut CO₂ emissions and the role of trust in different information sources in shaping nuclear risk perceptions and energy choices.     

灵活信任、企业家能力资本化与治理--对家族化合伙创业企业的分析

本文对家族化合伙创业企业治理结构进行了研究.以个人信任和权威为主要特征的家族化治理结构,在企业成长的不同阶段呈现出阶段性的差异化,对收益索取权和经营控制权的调整是突破治理效率瓶颈的根本.本文指出,信任的灵活性、企业家能力差异度、企业家能力资本化过程等是影响这一过程的重要因素.     

台湾投信业公司特征、董监事规模与基金绩效的关联性分析

检测台湾股票型基金绩效是否存在门坎上下不对称效果,并进一步探讨在不同的基金规模下投信业公司特征和董监事规模对基金绩效的影响。在实证模型的选取上,采用Hansen提出的纵横门坎回归模型进行检测,以2005年～2007年台湾地区投信业所发行的股票型基金作为研究对象。在实证结果方面,基金管理费用与基金报酬存在显著非线性不对称关系,且其影响取决于基金规模的差异;在不同基金规模区间的样本群组,公司若收取较高的管理费用时,对基金报酬的影响则呈现出不同大小的负向关系;当基金规模超过门坎值或低于门坎值时,公司特征和董监事规模对基金报酬的影响也呈现出显著的差异,特别是在主要股东席次比方面,两群组具有反向的显著差异。