Investigating initial trust toward e-tailers from the elaboration likelihood model perspective

This study investigates initial trust formation in Internet shopping from the perspective of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) by conducting a 2 2 factorial laboratory experiment. Based on data collected from 160 respondents, the results indicate that display of third‐party seals and product information quality positively affects consumers' trust toward an e‐tailer through assurance perception and result demonstrability, respectively. Besides, one's product involvement and trait anxiety play moderating roles. As predicted in ELM, consumers with high involvement and low anxiety build their trust via central route exclusively, whereas consumers with low involvement or high anxiety build their trust via peripheral route exclusively. The results suggest that customizing the persuasive arguments for different consumers is a critical strategy for initial on‐line trust building. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.