Testing sociological theories with digital trace data from online markets

Abstract

Today’s online market platforms allow millions of small businesses and people to trade in goods and services such as books, electronics, food, labour, transportation, care and accommodation. Most of these platforms use reputation systems to mitigate the trust problems that can arise when strangers from far and near trade with each other. By engaging in social and economic exchange via online markets, people produce digital trace data that can be used to research sociologically relevant phenomena. Starting out from Coleman’s foundational considerations of the role of trust in social and economic exchange, this chapter gives an overview of how sociologists and researchers from neighbouring disciplines have approached phenomena such as trust building, reputation formation, social preferences, discrimination, social inequality, etc. using online market data. Throughout, the chapter points to ongoing debates, open questions and promising future research directions.