Consumer Trust in Electronic Channels

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of third-party-provided electronic commerce assurance on consumers'likelihood to purchase products and services online and their concerns about privacy and transaction integrity. Study hypotheses are based on marketing theory concerning the role of trust (e.g., Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and risk (e.g., Murray, 1991 and Roselius, 1971) in consumer decision making. The impact of various product and vendor risk levels on consumer responses is also tested. 1,109 subjects participated in a 2 (high and low product risk) by 2 (high and low vendor risk) by 3 (third-party assurance, self-proclaimed assurance, no assurance) computerized online experiment. As hypothesized, third-party assurance significantly increased purchasing likelihood and reduced consumers' concerns about privacy and transaction integrity. However, interestingly, no significant differences could be detected between different third-party assurance providers.