Abstract

Abstract:

“The internet offers access to a large variety of health related services. Many of these services require the user to provide sensitive information such as health data or payment data. What is more, reliance on the information provided by ehealth companies can influence the users’ health and wellbeing. Therefore, a trusting relationship between users and ehealth providers is of great importance.

But how do users decide whether or not an ehealth provider is trustworthy? And are the features that users rely on credible signals of trustworthiness? These are the questions that my PhD is focussed on.

In my talk, I will present two qualitative studies that I have so far conducted in Germany in order to answer these research questions. I will provide the theoretical underpinnings of trust and I will discuss the pros and cons of different research methods that can be used to study trust. Lastly, I will present a quantitive study that I plan to conduct as final study of my PhD.”