Methodology
Participants
This study recruited 54 graduating senior students enrolled in an accounting information systems (AIS) course. These students acted as proxy for entry-level accountants in small to medium size businesses.
Procedures
In the first part, participants were instructed to study the specific features of the online accounting system, and to write a short paper regarding the advantages and disadvantages of such a system.
The three SysTrust principles were used to measure trust in the reliability of the OSBS
online system. These were the security, availability and processing integrity principles
described earlier. Participants indicated the extent to which they trusted that the OSBS
satisfied each principle. Their responses were recorded using a seven-point, Likert-type
scale labeled from 1 “strongly disagree” to 7 “strongly agree”, such that higher (lower)
trust in system reliability corresponded with higher (lower) scores. In order to avoid
biasing the participants’ assessment, this study did not provide the seal of SysTrust
or mention the SysTrust anywhere in the project or questionnaire. This is in contrast to
research that examines the effect of the SysTrust seal (Runyanet al., 2008).
Trust in the internet was measured via six items, taken from McKnightet al.(2002).
Participants indicated their agreement with each item using a seven-point, Likert-type
scale labeled from 1 “strongly disagree” to 7 “strongly agree”, such that higher (lower)
trust in the internet corresponded with higher (lower) scores.