Trust and e-commerce: a study of consumer perceptions

Increasing use of the World Wide Web as a B2C commercial tool raises interest in understanding the key issues in building relationships with customers on the Internet. Trust is believed to be the key to these relationships. Given the differences between a virtual and a conventional marketplace, antecedents and consequences of trust merit re-examination. This research identifies a number of key factors related to trust in the B2C context and proposes a framework based on a series of underpinning relationships among these factors. The findings in this research suggest that people are more likely to purchase from the web if they perceive a higher degree of trust in e-commerce and have more experience in using the web. Customer’s trust levels are likely to be influenced by the level of perceived market orientation, site quality, technical trustworthiness, and user’s web experience. People with a higher level of perceived site quality seem to have a higher level of perceived market orientation and trustworthiness towards e-commerce. Furthermore, people with a higher level of trust in e-commerce are more likely to participate in e-commerce. Positive ‘word of mouth’, money back warranty and partnerships with well-known business partners, rank as the top three effective risk reduction tactics. These findings complement the previous findings on e-commerce and shed light on how to establish a trust relationship on the World Wide Web.  2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.