Web seals have recently been subject to increasing skepticism from consumers. This study develops and tests a theoretical model of web seal skepticism by integrating multiple theoretical perspectives. We explore how web seal skepticism emerges and harms consumers’ perceptions. The results of an online experiment with 757 participants demonstrate that consumer skepticism increases consumers’ mistrust in information system providers and makes them feel less protected. Our findings also indicate that situational factors (web seal unreliability and seal authority incredibility) are significant antecedents of web seal skepticism and that consumers’ inferences of providers’ manipulative intent mediate the relationships.

Whereas the importance of information system (IS) certifications is increasing to prove compliance with regulatory and industry requirements, research reveals inconsistent findings concerning the effectiveness of IS certifications. Prior studies have concluded that such inconsistent findings stem partly from users’ limited understanding of the nature and role of certifications due to ineffective certification presentations. We follow a three-phase, theory-driven design science approach to examine how to design effective certification presentations. First, we identified sources of users’ limited understanding and formulated a revised certification presentation that facilitates users’ peripheral information processing. We tested our design proposal in an online experiment with 300 participants. Second, we derived meta-requirements and design guidelines by validating a theory-driven model of certification presentations through an online survey with 352 participants. Third, we implemented three certification presentations complying with example guidelines and ran an online experiment with 400 participants to test whether these presentations are effective. We contribute to research and practice by proposing a design theory for certification presentations composed of peripheral cues inducing authority, social proof and likeability to increase users’ trust perceptions.

Smart contracts are a promising means of formalizing and reliably enforcing agreements between entities using distributed ledger technology (DLT). Research has revealed that a significant number of smart contracts are subject to programming flaws, making them vulnerable to attacks and leading to detrimental effects, such as asset loss. Researchers and developers call for a thorough analysis of challenges to identify their causes and propose solutions. To respond to these calls, we conducted two literature reviews and diverse expert interviews and synthesized scattered knowledge on challenges and solutions. We identified 29 challenges (e.g., code visibility, code updateability, and encapsulation) and 60 solutions (e.g., gas limit specification, off-ledger computations, and shadowing). Moreover, we developed 20 software design patterns (SDPs) in collaboration with smart contract developers. The SDPs help developers adjust their programming habits and thus support them in their daily development practices. Our results provide actionable knowledge for smart contract developers to overcome the identified challenges and offer support for comparing smart contract integration concepts across three fundamentally different DLT protocols (i.e., Ethereum, EOSIO, and Hyperledger Fabric). Moreover, we support developers in becoming aware of peculiarities in smart contract development and the resulting benefits and drawbacks.

Cloud service certifications (CSC) attempt to assure a high level of security and compliance. However, considering that cloud services are part of an ever-changing environment, multi-year validity periods may put in doubt reliability of such certifications. We argue that continuous auditing (CA) of selected certification criteria is required to assure continuously reliable and secure cloud services, and thereby increase trustworthiness of certifications. CA of cloud services is still in its infancy, thus, we conducted a thorough literature review, interviews, and workshops with practitioners to conceptualize an architecture for continuous cloud service auditing. Our study shows that various criteria should be continuously audited. Yet, we reveal that most of existing methodologies are not applicable for third party auditing purposes. Therefore, we propose a conceptual CA architecture, and highlight important components and processes that have to be implemented. Finally, we discuss benefits and challenges that have to be tackled to diffuse the concept of continuous cloud service auditing. We contribute to knowledge and practice by providing applicable internal and third party auditing methodologies for auditors and providers, linked together in a conceptual architecture. Further on, we provide groundings for future research to implement CA in cloud service contexts.