The Effects of Trust-Assuring Arguments on Consumer Trust in Internet Stores

The difficulty Internet stores face in developing consumer trust is an ongoing impediment to the proliferation of Internet shopping. In order to develop consumer trust, many e-commerce strategies and Website features have been proposed in the IS discipline. Trust-assuring arguments are one proposed feature and refer to a statement or statements offering support for a claim made by an Internet store to address trust related issues. Although trust-assuring arguments are often found in Internet stores, to date little research has examined the effects of the arguments in building consumer trust. To fill the gap, this paper examines the effects of trustassuring arguments on consumer trust in Internet stores.