Correspondence: Sergios Dimitriadis, Athens University of Economics and Business, Marketing and Communication Department, Patission 76, Athens 10434, Greece. Tel +30 2108203479; Fax +30 210 8223802; e-mail: dimitria@aueb.gr

¹is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Department of Marketing and Communication, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece. His research interests include e-marketing, CRM and services marketing. He has written for several marketing journals such as Journal of Business Research, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management and European Journal of Marketing.

²is a marketing officer at the Marketing Division of National Bank of Greece. He holds a PhD in Marketing from the Marketing and Communication Department of Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece. He teaches Services Marketing at the University of Piraeus, Greece. His professional and research interests focus on services marketing, distribution channels and CRM.

Received 27 February 2008; Revised 27 February 2008.

Abstract

Trust appears as an important factor for the adoption of technology-based distribution channels. This paper investigates the construct of trust and its antecedents in the context of technology-based distribution channels, such as ATMs, the internet and phone banking. Specifically, it tests the role of trust in the bank in building trust in these channels. It reports findings from a retail bank customer survey, which revealed two dimensions of trust, affective and cognitive trust, and the significant role of three variables in forming trust in these channels: trust in the company, reputation of the company and disposition to trust. Implications of further research on understanding the antecedents of trust towards channels as well as managerial recommendations on how to build such trust are discussed.