This document discusses trust management in peer-to-peer platforms. It outlines different levels where trust can be catered, including the transaction level, user level, and marketplace level. At the transaction level, platforms can assess benefits, risks, and guarantees. At the user level, platforms can focus on authentication, ratings/reviews, transaction history, and screening. At the marketplace level, platforms can build trust through their identity/image, relationship with users, and platform/application design. Examples of trust management approaches from platforms like BlaBlaCar, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, and others are also provided.

1. in the sharing economy
shareNL | Jessica Slijpen | November 2014
Image courtesy of Tonis Pan
Part III – Trust management
in peer-to-peer platforms

2. There is a lot to say about trust…
Therefor we create several presentations
Part I – Introduction
Part II – The trust triangle
Part III – Trust management in peer-to-peer platforms
Part IV – Cross-platform trust tools
Part V – Further thoughts
These – and possibly others – will be subsequently posted on
SlideShare
Enjoy the read and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have
questions or other interest in the subject.

3. TRUST MANAGEMENT
Within the regular economy transactions take place between
consumers and formal organizations. These transactions are
supported with safe guards such as regulations, warranties and
liabilities.
Within the sharing economy many of these safe guards do not
apply. This economy strongly relies on trust. Trust is a
multidimensional subject.
No trust, no transaction

4. THE TRUST TRIANGLE
Transaction
Users Marketplace

5. THE TRUST TRIANGLE
Transaction
Users Marketplace
Will I be able to
satisfy my needs &
wishes with a service
like this?
Do I trust the person
that offers this service /
that wants to use my
offer?
And it’s all in the eye of
the beholder…

6. Trust management
Platforms can cater trust and reputation
management at all three levels:
• transaction
• users
• marketplace

7. TRANSACTION LEVEL
Benefits of the transaction
What is the gain for both users?
Risks in the transaction
What are the risks?
Guarantees surrounding the transaction
What are the safeguards?

8. Transaction benefits
• Assess and stress the relevant benefits
• for both user groups
• related to motivations
note: Keep It Simple - focus on max three benefits
• When the benefit is high, the willingness to seriously
consider the proposition increases

9. Transaction risks
The type, size and impact of risks
depends on the type of service
offered by the platform

10. Type of risk
Damage / loss
Provider: goods damage/lost/stolen; reputation damaged
User: goods/services not delivered or not expected quality; damage
by failing good or service
Personal safety
Being in a private space (house/car) with a stranger; using (electrical)
equipment; commissioning un(der)qualified people; eating food
prepared by strangers
Privacy
Inviting strangers in your house; sharing private information (i.e.
assistance in tax forms, computer repair); exhibiting your assets and
needs on platforms

11. Size of risk
Magnitude of risk
e.g. missing a car share to the city to go shopping is incomparable to
missing a car share to catch a plane
Ability to ‘repair’
e.g. a badly pruned tree will blossom again, a badly treated dog may
not
Ability to claim
can someone be held responsible
Likelihood
strongly related to trustworthiness of transaction partners and type of
transaction

12. Transaction - risks
• Assess the risks in the transaction
• Provide facts and figures about actual occurrence
• Educate your users on
• the way the marketplace minimizes risks
• the way the user can minimize risks (influence behavior)
DAMAGE / LOSS PERSONAL SAFETY PRIVACY

13. Transaction guarantees
•Safeguard user information
•Safeguard financial transactions
•Consider insurance
•Provide excellent customer care

14. Transaction guarantees
Safeguard user information
• Balance between openness versus privacy
• Consider incremental display of personal data between
users
• Clarify the usage of personal data by the marketplace
• Clarify data exchange with third parties
• Use verified third parties for data management
Safeguard financial transactions
• Use safe and well known payment facilities

15. Transaction guarantees
Consider insurance
• Develop your own insurance or connect with the growing number
of companies that cater the sharing economy
• Note: could the provision of insurance negatively influence
responsible behavior of users?
Provide excellent customer care
• Develop customer care in advance – starting with the worst case
scenarios for both ends
• Collecting and spreading reviews of your customer care may
even enhance the trust in the transaction and company –
provided they are positive

16. USER LEVEL
Authentication
Who are you?
Ratings & Reviews
How are you appreciated by others?
Transaction history
What have you done at the platform so far?
Profile
What kind of person are you?
Screenings
Have you been checked?

17. User authentication
Who are you?
• First name / surname / username (pseudonym)
• Profile picture
• Connection social media accounts
• e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, …
• Verification by platform
• e-mail, mobile phone number
• credit card, passport*
• in person: identity, home address
* note: is this safe & legal?

18. User profile
What kind of person are you?
• Profile picture
• Background information
• education, job, residence, interests
• Social profile
• profile information from social media platforms
• Social proximity
• how many handshakes away?
• Acceptance of platform criteria
• e.g. code of conduct, terms and conditions, subscription fee
• Personal contact between users prior to transaction
• e.g. chat, mail, phone call, video call

19. User transaction history
What have you done so far?
• Membership of this platform since…
• Number of transactions
• differentiated by role: provider / user
• Most recent activity on platform
• Response time

20. User ratings & reviews
How are you appreciated by others?
• Rating by previous transaction partners
• rating system with score, stars, …
• showing number of ratings, mean, average, range, low score /
high score, …
• ‘star rating’ after specific number of positive reviews (stimulating
positive competitive behavior)
• subdivision in relevant aspects
• Reviews by previous transaction partners
• free text feedback summarizing the experience
• in some cases even checked by platform – e.g. Sittercity
(babysitting platform)
• Note
• There is a lot to say and to find out about ratings and reviews.
For further thoughts and suggestions, see the separate section
of the document.

21. User screening
Have you been checked?
• Verification by the marketplace of
• diploma’s, licenses, qualifications, ownership, …
• damage and claims history, criminal background
• payment history and credit score

22. Study on trust BlaBlaCar
December 2012

23. MARKETPLACE LEVEL
Identity and image
What kind of organization are you?
Relationship with users
How do you interact with the users?
Platform / application
How is your software designed?

24. Marketplace
Identity & image
Trust in the marketplace is linked to identity & image
• Keep it simple
• Create a clear proposition
• Transparency
• Tell the (personal) story behind the marketplace
• Show the people working for the marketplace
• Clarify the business model: a for-profit, a not-for profit organization and/or
a social enterprise
• Show your users that you have your act together
• Show the number of users and transactions (once you’ve passed the
minimum)
• Ask for feedback, use feedback, communicate about your progress

25. Marketplace
Identity & image
• Become familiar
• Stimulate word-of-mouth promotion by users
• Show the amount of users and transactions, preferably linked to peer
groups of potential users
• Be around, online and offline (well known brands are associated with
trustworthiness)
• Collect recommendations
• Ask and display user reviews about the marketplace, the processes, the
(customer) service, …
• Consider affiliation with well-known people / brands
• Act accordingly
• Behavior towards users, partners, competitors, authorities, …
• Put your money where your mouth is

26. Marketplace
Relationship with users
Trust in the marketplaceis linked to the relationship you
build and nourish with your users
• Community building
• Be present, online & offline
• Build communities, online & offline
• Strengthen existing communities
• User focus
• Personalize your service and communication
• Add value, consider the entire ‘customer journey’
• help people to better promote their product / service, price/reward setting, give
examples, add valuable information for users
• Consider co-creation with users
• Be accessible – the more channels, the better

27. Marketplace
Relationship with users
• Advocate desired user behavior
• Consider a code of conduct
• Monitor user behavior, stimulate favorable and discourage undesirable
behavior
• Customer support
• Be accessible – the more channels, the better
• Help out when there are questions
• Help out when there are trouble
• Respond quickly
• Be compassioned
• With the right customer care after an incident, users may even have
increased trust in your marketplace

28. Marketplace
Platform / application
• UXD designed to radiate trust
• Quality of UXD: simple, clear, attractive
• Pictures of people: mimic social presence
• Content quality
• Information complete, accurate, up-to-date
• Process (2-sided) supported adequately
• Terms & conditions, FAQ, privacy policy
• Personalized and customized content
• Congruity
• Between organizational identity & image and ‘tone of voice’ platform
• Between user motives and ‘tone of voice’ platform
• User control
• Control over profile information (e.g.: delete profile)
• App ratings in App Store / Play Store

29. Further considerations
in designing trust management

30. Customer journey
Assess the need for trust
• over the entire customer journey
• addressing all the touch points
• for both user-ends

31. User categories
As the user base grows, the characteristics of the users change.
This might require an adaption of the trust tools in the platform.

32. The single most important aspect
Focus on the single most important aspect in order to
make the platform work.
• What is the one thing to provide (the essential added value)
or to avoid (the unforgivable thing)
• Assess this for the users at both ends
• Assess this for the transaction between the users
• Assess this for the role of the marketplace
If you don’t get this right, it will never work…

33. The “right to be forgotten”
Make sure you can restore a users trust profile in case
of an unjust situation.
Google the story of “Mario Costeja Gonzalez”

34. Self-regulation
The assumption (and experience) of the sharing
platforms is that trust tools help the community to self-
regulate.
 People with positive ratings & reviews and many
other trust elements have increased access to offers
 People with bad ratings & reviews are weeded out
Perhaps in the future platforms will also use the opinion
of the community to advice in disputes between users?

35. What suits your marketplace?
• Minimalistic versus extensive trust management online
• Emphasis on hard data (facts & figures) versus soft data
(reputational, social)
• Strong or weak involvement of the marketplace
• Involvement of third parties (verification, insurance,
payment, …)
• Link up with the business strategy
• what is your role?
• what is your perspective on society?
• what is your revenue model?
• Balance between practicality of the trust tools and the
accuracy of the trust assessment

36. Examples of trust management
in peer-to-peer sharing platforms

37. BlaBlaCar
Further reading on the D.R.E.A.M.S. framework:
www.betrustman.com

38. Airbnb

39. TaskRabbit

40. Thuisafgehaald

41. SnappCar

42. Shared with passion ;)
Jessica Slijpen
jessica@sharenl.nl
credits illustrations:
Kathryn Hing