Since its inception in 2009, Blockchain (i.e., the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies) has sparked new potential to question the fundamental nature of things such as money and intermediaries. At the very core of this technology is a new type of trust embedded in the design of the information system that enables its functionality. Public Blockchain applications (e.g., Bitcoin) are examples of Semi-Autonomous Information Systems. Semi-Autonomous Information Systems are information systems that humans and algorithms jointly control. Trust in public Blockchain applications is produced through a decentralized network of actors transacting under an algorithmic authority – a new type of trust in Semi-Autonomous Information Systems.
This study followed the information systems design method to develop a design theory that explains the process of designing trustworthy Semi-Autonomous Information Systems. The proposed design theory includes decentralization and algorithmic authority as new factors in building users’ trust in Semi-Autonomous Information Systems. As the IS literature lacks scales for these two factors, new decentralization and algorithmic authority scales were developed and validated following established guidelines. Following an extensive literature review, ten inductive interviews with subject-matter experts were conducted during the conceptualization phase. The initial measurement items list for these scales was evaluated and refined through 12 more interviews with qualified raters and a subsequent survey study of 126 MBA students to establish content validity for the proposed new items. Two independent samples, 200 participants each, were used during the exploratory and confirmatory analyses to validate the new scales.
Then, the two new scales of decentralization and algorithmic authority were tested as part of a new trust model. The proposed model includes decentralization and algorithmic authority as two new cognitive-based trust factors. The model also includes perceived control and sense of community as two types of emotional-based trust. The pre-established factors of structural assurance, users’ trust beliefs in actors, and calculative-based trust are also included in the model. The model was empirically validated through a quantitative survey study of 450 Bitcoin users. The proposed design theory, two new scales, and the new trust model provide significant implications for theory and practice in this area. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/29726 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Mohamadean, Ahmed |
| Contributors | Hassanein, Khaled, Business Administration |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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