Prior research typically positions blockchain technology as enabling a trustless exchange environment without specifically investigating how blockchain technology provides trust and what makes the data in a blockchain “tamperproof” and “immutable.” This article serves to address these research gaps by conducting semi-structured interviews with 18 informants who have had at least three years of project experience with blockchain-enabled exchanges. Our findings uncover three unique aspects of blockchain that enable trust in exchange vs. a traditional exchange: (1) trust in exchange actors: mathematics and cryptography vs. human guardians within institutions, (2) trust in exchange actions: information transparency enabling tamperproof and immutable data vs. information asymmetry, and (3) trust in exchange assets: digital vs. manual escrows for verifying ownership of valuable goods. This research is vital for marketing scholars and practitioners who seek to understand the rise of threats to trust regarding online advertising, customer trust, privacy, and digital rights.

先前的研究通常将区块链技术定位为支持无需信任的交换环境，而没有专门研究区块链技术如何提供信任以及是什么使区块链中的数据“防篡改​​”和“不可变”。本文旨在通过对 18 位在区块链交易所拥有至少三年项目经验的线人进行半结构化访谈来解决这些研究空白。我们的研究结果揭示了区块链的三个独特方面，这些方面使得交换信任与传统交换成为可能：(1) 对交换参与者的信任：数学和密码学与机构内的人类监护人，(2) 对交换行动的信任：信息透明性可实现防篡改和不可变数据与信息不对称，以及 (3) 对交换资产的信任：数字与信息不对称 用于验证贵重物品所有权的人工托管。这项研究对于寻求了解在线广告、客户信任、隐私和数字权利方面的信任威胁上升的营销学者和从业者来说至关重要。