A STUDY OF CONSUMER TRUST IN ON-LINE SHOPPING:

METHODOLOGICAL & RESEARCH CONSIDERATIONS

Regina Connolly

Dublin City Univeristy Business School, Dublin 9, Ireland

Keywords: Trust antecedents, e-business, perceived risk.

Abstract: Research as to how consumer trust can be built in an on-line environment is limited and varies considerably

in terms of the dimensions of the problem that are examined. Consequently, much of our understanding of

the antecedents of trust in on-line shopping context remains fragmented. This paper outlines an in-progress

study in which a previously validated measurement instrument was applied in Ireland and in the United

States in order to investigate the existence and importance of specific perceptions and factors that are

thought to predict the generation of consumer trust in Internet shopping. It is expected that the results of

this study will provide a refined understanding of the predictors and moderators of trust in an electronic

purchase environment and thus make a valuable contribution not only to information systems research but

also to the overall body of marketing, trust and diffusion research. In addition, the detailed insights afforded

by this study are likely to be of benefit to vendors operating in a global environment in their attempts to

engender consumer trust in their websites and thus increase their success in the competitive electronic

commerce marketplace.

1 INTRODUCTION

Trust, its causes, nature and consequences, is

recognised as a significant concept by academics

from across a wide spectrum of intellectual

disciplines. Sociologists (Gambetta, 1988),

psychologists (Deutsch, 1962), organisational

behaviour scientists (Kramer, 1999; Kramer &

Tyler, 1996; Mishra, 1996; Mayer, Davis &

Schoorman, 1995; Sitkin & Roth, 1993), as well as

economists (Williamson, 1974; Zucker, 1986),

anthropologists (Ekeh, 1974), and political scientists

(Barber, 1983) have contributed to the wide body of

work that exists on this topic.

Information Systems (IS) field, researchers have

shown an increasing awareness of how trust

contributes towards the success of many types of

virtual environments (e.g. Cyr et al., 2005; Sillence

et al; 2004; Briggs et al., 2004; Gefen et al., 2003;

Cortitore et al., 2003; Huang et al., 2003; Belanger

et al., 2002; Shankar et al 2002; Koufaris and

Hampton Sosa, 2002; Lee et al., 2001). It is

considered to have critical importance for the

success of on-line consumer purchasing (Reichheld

and Schefter, 2000; Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky,

1999).

Although information systems researchers’

interest in this topic has increased, to date studies on

the trust construct provide a limited view of the

phenomenon. In part, this stems from the

conceptual and operational confusion that surrounds

the construct. For example, Grabner-Krauter and

Kaluscha, (2003) observe that research in this area is

limited by differing conceptualizations of the

construct and a blurring of the distinction between

trust and its antecedents. Moreover, there is no

consensus as to how the trust construct should be

operationalised (Bhattacherjee, 2002).

Compounding the problem is the fact that many of

the scales used in trust studies in an on-line context

are neither theoretically grounded nor authenticated.

This confusion has manifested in studies that

examine isolated dimensions of the construct such as

privacy (Hoffman et al., 1999), structural assurances

(Belanger et al., 2002) or specific technical

antecedents such as those proposed in the

Technology Acceptance Model in which Davis et

al., 1989) proposes that intention to use a technology

is predicted by beliefs regarding the perceived ease

Connolly R. (2007).

CITIZEN TRUST IN E-GOVERNMENT IN IRELAND - The Role of Webite Service Quality.

In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Society, e-Business and e-Government /

e-Learning, pages 57-65

DOI: 10.5220/0001262200570065

 SciTePress

of use and the perceived usefulness of the

technology (see Pavlou, 2003). Moreover, the

unique context of some studies, such as on-line

banking (e.g. Tan & Teo, 2000), means that the

insights provided by these studies are frequently not

generalisable to consumer trust in on-line shopping.

Although there has not been direct research into

trust and online shopping in Ireland, a study by

Amárach Consulting (2002) indicates that the

number of Irish Internet users buying on-line, having

risen each quarter for several years, fell for the first

time in that year. Further studies in 2003 found that

although nearly half of the Irish population had

Internet access, only 38% of Irish Internet users had

made an on-line purchase and the majority of those

were in the 35 - 49 age category and based in

Dublin. It appears that, although there has been a

significant increase in the number of Irish Internet

users over the past decade, only a modest fraction of

those users have made purchases over the Internet.

It is conceivable that the reason for consumers’

hesitancy to purchase online is related to their lack

of trust in online vendors.

1.2 Research Objectives

The first objective of this research is to examine the

antecedents of trusting behaviour (such as

perceptions of vendor trustworthiness). A second

objective is to examine whether patterns of trust

behaviour exhibited by people working in the

information and communications technology (ICT)

industry are different from their peers who, while

business and computer literate, are working in non-

ICT specific jobs. A third objective is to examine

whether differences exist between Irish and

American on-line consumers in terms of the

antecedents that most influence, or in their absence

inhibit, their trust responses.

2 LITERATURE

It has been demonstrated that trusting beliefs

positively influence online consumers’ purchase

intentions (Verhagen et al., 2006; 2004; McKnight

et al; 2002; Lim et al, 2001; Jarvenpaa et al., 2000).

Consequently, understanding the factors that

influence the generation of trusting beliefs in an

online environment is of considerable interest to

researchers (e.g. Wang and Emurian, 2005; Briggs

et al., 2004; Corritore et al., 2003; Gefen et al.,

2003, Gefen and Straub, 2003; Shankar et al 2002;

Koufaris and Hampton Sosa, 2002; McKnight et al.,

2002, Chen and Dhillon, 2003; Lee et al., 2001).

The literature provides considerable evidence that a

number of factors have strong predictive importance

and are therefore deserving of consideration in any

examination of the construct. These factors include

the characteristics of the online vendor (Chen and

Dhillon, 2003; Bhattacharjee, 2002; Lee and Turban,

2001; McKnight et al., 2002; Peters et al., 1997;

Mayer et al., 1995; Covello, 1992; Barber, 1983),

situational factors (Bigley and Pearce, 1998; Hagen

and Choe, 1998; Lewicki and Bunker, 1995; Sitkin,

1995; Ring & Van De Ven; 1992), third party

certification (McKnight and Chervany, 2001;

Hoffmann et al., 1999; Jarvenpaa and Grazioli,

1999; Kovar et al., 2000a; 2000b; Cheskin Research,

2000), the individual’s propensity to trust (Kim and

Prabhakar, 2004; Lee and Turban, 2001; Gefen,

2000; Kim and Prabhakar, 2000; Egger, 2000;

Gefen, 2000; McKnight et al., 1998; Ambrose and

Johnson, 1998; Gurtman 1992) and the influence of

perceived risk (Verhagen et al., 2006; 2004; Pavlou

and Gefen, 2004; Van der Heijden, 2003; Pavlou,

2003; Grabner-Krauter and Kaluscha, 2003; Hardin,

2001; Jarvenpaa et al., 2000; Snijders and Keren,

1999; Hoffman et al., 1999; Rousseau et al., 1998;

Mayer et al., 1995).

In summary, the literature indicates a number of

factors to have strong predictive importance in

relation to consumer trust in online shopping.

Consequently, it is essential that the influence of

these factors - the characteristics of the online

vendor, situational factors, third party certification,

the individual’s propensity to trust, and the influence

of perceived risk on the consumer’s trust response –

is examined in this study of consumer trust in online

shopping. In choosing a model to conduct the study

it is therefore of particular importance that each of

these constructs are adequately represented.

A comprehensive review of all trust studies and

all trust models has been undertaken. A number of

models were found to address some of the issues of

concern in this study (e.g. Kini and Choobineh,

1998; Tan and Thoen, 2000-2001; Egger, 2000).

However, the model deemed to be the most suitable

for the purposes of this study was that proposed by

Cheung and Lee (2000) as it captures the most

significant set of trust antecedents, derived from

different lines of previous research, and presents

them as an integrated entity that can provide

direction for empirical testing. It also tests them in

the narrowly focused way necessary for this

research. For example, the measurement instrument

WEBIST 2007 - International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies

contains 30 items measuring trust antecedents such

as perceived security controls (Gauzente, 2004),

perceived privacy controls (Belanger et al., 2002),

the vendors perceived integrity (Chen and Dhillon,

2003), the vendors perceived competence

(McKnight et al., 2002), personality (Kim and

Prabhakar, 2004), cultural environment (Shankar et

al., 2002; Hagen and Choe, 1998), experience (Kong

and Hung, 2006) third party recognition (McKnight

and Chervany, 2001), legal framework, (Bigley and

Pearce, 1998; Fukuyama, 1995), and perceived risk

(Verhagen et al., 2006; Van der Heijden et al., 2003,

Jarvenpaa et al., 2000).

The influence of national culture on trust beliefs

and trust outcomes has long been asserted (Gefen

and Heart, 2006; Gefen et al., 2005; Doney et al.,

1998; Fukuyama, 1995; Zucker 1986). However,

Gefen and Heart (2006) note that despite repeated

theorisations of trust and national culture as

intricately related constructs, e-commerce trust

researchers have for the main part (exceptions to this

being Gefen and Heart (2006), Connolly (2004) and

Javvenpaaa and Tractinsky (2000)) ignored the

potential effects of national culture. They note that

the majority of e-commerce trust research has been

conducted in the United States, a country that

exhibits high levels of individualism and uncertainty

avoidance (Hofstede, 1980) and assert that this

raises the questions as to whether research

conducted in the US can in fact be generalised to

other counties. In their (2006) study, Gefen and

Heart examined differences in three trust beliefs of

vendor integrity, benevolence and ability between

the US and Israel. The paths through which the trust

beliefs were engendered were familiarity and

predictability and the beliefs were examined in terms

of the influence of these beliefs on behavioural

intentions. The study found significant differences

in the paths from integrity to purchase intentions

(with integrity showing a stronger effect in the

American sample in relation to purchasing

intentions) and suggest that this may be the result of

the US being a highly individualistic culture. Gefen

and Heart therefore posit that the results indicate that

conclusions based on US studies cannot and should

not be automatically applied to other cultures and

they accordingly emphasise the need for researchers

to include national culture in e-commerce trust

studies.

The four dimensions of national culture as

identified by Hofstede (1980) are individualism-

collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance,

and masculinity. The first of these, individualism

(IDV), is described by Hofstede as the degree to

which individuals are integrated into groups. The

second dimension is the Power Distance Index (PDI)

which is the extent to which the less powerful

members of organizations and institutions (like the

family) accept and expect that power is distributed

unequally. Research (Shaffer and O’ Hara, 1995)

has shown that individuals from countries that with

high PDI scores tend to have less trust for service

providers than do individuals. The third dimension

of national culture that Hofstede discusses is the

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI). This

dimension deals with a society's tolerance for

uncertainty and ambiguity and indicates to what

extent a culture programs its members to feel either

uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured

situations. The fourth of Hofstede’s cultural

dimensions is masculinity. Masculinity (MAS)

refers to the distribution of roles between the

genders, which is another fundamental issue for any

society to which a range of solutions are found.

The model used in this study was developed and

validated in Asia (Hong Kong), a country that

exhibits (Hostede 1980) low levels of

individualism, has a high rank on the power distance

index and low levels of uncertainty avoidance.

These scores are in marked contrast to those of the

United States and Ireland. For example, the US

shows a very high individuality index with a score of

91. Ireland, on the other hand, scores about 70 on

the individualism index while Hong Kong scores

markedly lower with a score of only 25. The PDI

score for Hong Kong is high at 68 while the same

score for the US is 40 (in a 11- 104 scale) but

Ireland scores only 28 on this ranking. In terms of

the UAI index, the U.S ranks low at 46 (in an 8-112

scale) but Ireland ranks far lower at 35 with Hong

Kong lowest at a score of only 29. This indicates

that Hong Kong consumers and Irish consumers tend

to be more tolerant of uncertain situations than are

Americans. As all three countries are similar in the

masculinity index with Hong Kong at 57, the US at

62 and Ireland at 68, masculinity is not hypothesised

as an aspect of national culture that could provide an

explanation for differences in trust beliefs between

these countries. In addition, it should be noted that

while the US and Ireland are by no means polar

opposites on each of the cultural indices, differences

between them are evident in terms of three of the

four indices, in particular the individualism index

and to a lesser degree the power-distance and

uncertainty avoidance indices.

The hypothesized effects of national culture on

online consumer’s trust beliefs will be examined by

comparing the model developed and validated in

Hong Kong with data collected in the US and

A STUDY OF CONSUMER TRUST IN ON-LINE SHOPPING: METHODOLOGICAL & RESEARCH

CONSIDERATIONS

Trustworthiness of Internet Vendor

Perceived Security Control

Perceived Privacy Control

Perceived Integrity

Perceived Competence

External Environment

Third Party Recognition

Legal Framework

Propensity to Trust

Trust in Internet

Shopping

Perceived

Risk

Figure 1: Conceptual Model of Trust in Internet Shopping. (Source: Cheung and Lee, 2000).

Ireland. If regardless of national culture the trust

antecedents were found to be similar, this would

point to the culture independence of the model.

However, if the results differ markedly, this would

confirm the concerns of researchers (e.g. Fukuyama,

1995) regarding the generalisation of US trust

studies.

3 MEASUREMENT

INSTRUMENT

In their model (figure 1) Cheung and Lee (2000)

show that consumer trust in on-line shopping is

predicted by two sets of antecedents – factors that

create a sense of vendor trustworthiness and factors

related to the external environment. The former

relate to the vendor’s perceived integrity and

competence and the vendor’s security and privacy

controls. The latter (external environment)

encompass third party recognition (e.g. seals of

approval) and the legal framework. The model

shows that the effect of both sets of factors on the

consumer’s trust beliefs is moderated by the

consumer’s propensity to trust. It also

acknowledges the relationship between perceived

risk and the online consumer’s trust response.

In the measurement instrument for this model,

the moderating variable ‘Propensity to Trust’ is a

composite of three sets of items. These are: (i)

personality items relating to the individual’s

tendency to trust, (ii) experience items relating to the

individual’s previous experience and (iii) cultural

environment items relating to the level of trust in the

individuals environment. In this study, these

variables will be treated separately in order to

examine their effects more closely.

The research hypotheses are as follows:

Hypothesis 1: The perceived security control of

Consumer Trust in Internet Shopping (CTIS).

Perceived security control refers to the Internet

users’ perception of the Internet vendors’ ability to

fulfill security requirements, such as authentication,

integrity, encryption, and non-repudiation. The

influence of perceived website security controls on

consumers’ trust responses is acknowledged in the

literature (Gauzente, 2004; Belanger et al., 2002.)

Hypothesis 2: The perceived privacy control of

an Internet vendor is positively related to CTIS.

Perceived privacy control is conceived as the

Internet users’ perception of the Internet vendor’s

ability to protect consumers’ personal information

collected during electronic transactions from

unauthorized use or disclosure. The literature

acknowledges that online consumers’ awareness of

their lack of control over personal data can influence

their behavioral response (Gauzente, 2004; Grabner-

Krauter and Kaluscha, 2003; Goldsmith and Bridges

2000; Hoffman et al., 1998)

Hypothesis 3: The perceived integrity of an

Internet vendor is positively related to CTIS.

Perceived integrity refers to the Internet user’s

perception of on the vendor’s honesty. For instance,

WEBIST 2007 - International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies

whether it has consistent actions, whether its actions

are congruent with its own words, and whether its

transactions with its consumers are fair. In the

literature, support for the influence of perceived

integrity on the generation of trust beliefs is

provided by McKnight et al., (2002), Peters et al.,

(1997), Mayer et al., (1995), Covello (1992), and

Barber, (1983).

Hypothesis 4: The perceived competence of an

Internet vendor is positively related to CTIS.

Perceived competency is defined as the Internet

users’ perception of the skills, abilities, and expertise

of Internet vendors. The literature provides strong

support for the influence of perceived integrity on

the generation of trust beliefs (e.g. McKnight et al.,

2002; Lee and Turban, 2001 Mayer et al., 1995; and

Barber, 1983).

Hypothesis 5: The perceived effectiveness of

third party recognition is positively associated with

CTIS.

Third party recognition refers to the assurance

provided by independent bodies that the Internet

vendor is trustworthy. Support for the influence of

third party certification on the generation of

consumer trust beliefs is provided by McKnight and

Chervany (2001), Hoffmann et al., (1999),

Jarvenpaa and Grazioli (1999), Kovar et al., (2000a;

2000b) and Cheskin Research (2000).

Hypothesis 6: The perceived effectiveness of the

legal framework is positively associated with CTIS.

Legal framework refers to the law and code of

practice established to protect Internet shoppers

during electronic transactions. The literature

provides strong support for the influence of

situational factors such as legal mechanisms on the

generation of trust beliefs (e.g. Hagen and Choe,

1998; Lewicki and Bunker, 1995; Sitkin, 1995; Ring

& Van De Ven; 1992),

The following 6 hypotheses relate specifically to

the moderating effect of the propensity to trust

characteristic on the on-line consumer’s trust

response. The influence of the individual’s

propensity to trust on their trust response is widely

documented in the literature (e.g. Kim and

Prabhakar, 2004; Lee and Turban, 2001; Gefen,

2000; Kim and Prabhakar, 2000; Egger, 2000;

Gefen, 2000; McKnight et al., 1998; Ambrose and

Johnson, 1998; Gurtman 1992).

Hypothesis 7: Propensity to trust moderates the

relationship between the perceived security control

of an Internet vendor and CTIS.

Hypothesis 8: Propensity to trust moderates the

relationship between the perceived privacy control

of an Internet vendor and CTIS.

Hypothesis 9: Propensity to trust moderates the

relationship between the perceived integrity of an

Internet vendor and CTIS.

Hypothesis 10: Propensity to trust moderates the

relationship between the perceived competence of an

Internet vendor and CTIS.

Hypothesis 11: Propensity to trust moderates the

relationship between the perceived effectiveness of

the third party recognition and CTIS.

Hypothesis 12: Propensity to trust moderates the

relationship between the perceived effectiveness of

the legal framework and CTIS.

The following hypothesis relates to the

perceived risk variable. The literature acknowledges

the relationship between perceived risk and the

consumer’s trust response (e.g. Verhagen et al.,

2006; 2004; Pavlou and Gefen, 2004; Van der

Heijden, 2003; Pavlou, 2003; Grabner-Krauter and

Kaluscha, 2003; Hardin, 2001; Jarvenpaa et al.,

2000; Snijders and Keren, 1999; and Hoffman et al.,

1999.)

Hypothesis 13: CTIS is negatively associated

with perceived risk in Internet shopping.

4 METHODOLOGY

The measurement instrument proposed by Cheung

and Lee was extended to include demographic

information and will be applied to two samples, one

set of respondents with non-technical backgrounds

and the other set with highly technical backgrounds.

For the Irish section of this study, the first

sample chosen was obtained from the Irish Master of

Business Administration (MBA) Association. It

consisted of 620 individuals who have completed an

MBA degree in the preceding 10 years. Previous

studies of consumer trust in on-line shopping have

been based on current undergraduate or postgraduate

students from one university (Belanger et al., 2002;

Borchers, 2001). In this study, the participants will

comprise graduates of six universities in Ireland. .

The second sample was obtained from the Irish

Computer Society (ICS) and consisted of 218

consumers with highly technical backgrounds. To

A STUDY OF CONSUMER TRUST IN ON-LINE SHOPPING: METHODOLOGICAL & RESEARCH

CONSIDERATIONS

become a professional member of the Irish

Computer Society necessitates having a degree in a

technical discipline along with a minimum of 3

years work experience in a technical or technical-

related position. These requirements will improve

the likelihood that the respondents will have

adequate disposable income and technical

competency to engage in online shopping.

However, it was reasoned that an individual could

have recently joined the ICS but that their technical

knowledge could be considerably outdated (which

would reduce their knowledge and experience of

online shopping). To overcome this potential

limitation, an age limit of 45 years of age was

imposed on the participants selected.

A previous study, which used this measurement

instrument, consisted of a sample of 118 students in

the United States (Borchers, 2001). In concluding

his study, Borchers stated that future studies using

this measurement instrument should have larger

samples than were used in his research and ideally

should be derived from one culture only. Therefore,

both samples for the Irish stage of this research were

substantially larger than the sample used in

Borcher’s study and consisted predominantly of

Irish subjects.

For the United States section of the research, the

first sample chosen was obtained from 220

consumers who had recently completed their MBA

at Northeastern University, Boston. The second

chosen consisted of 128 postgraduate students taking

Computer Science programmes at Northeastern

University and 22 staff from the Computer Science

Department in that university.

The data collected was input into SPSS

(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and

checks for the internal reliability of each construct

were made using Cronbach’s Alpha values and

factor analysis. Regression analysis will be used to

examine the predictive importance of each the trust

antecedents under examination and an independent

t-test will be used to compare the technical and less

technical samples in both countries.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Although this study is not yet completed, a number

of comments can be made regarding the expected

outcomes. Firstly, it is anticipated that the study

findings will provide evidence as to whether, and to

what degree, Irish and American consumers’ trust in

online shopping is influenced by the perceived

characteristics of the online vendor, specifically

perceptions of vendor competence and vendor

integrity. The findings will also indicate whether

security and privacy controls on vendor websites

exert a positive influence on the generation of

consumer trust beliefs. Similarly, the effectiveness

of third party seals of approval and legal

mechanisms in influencing the generation of trust

beliefs will be shown. The influence of the

propensity to trust characteristic on consumer trust

in online shopping and the influence of perceived

risk on the online consumers’ trust response will

also be indicated. Moreover, as results obtained

from both business and technical samples will be

compared, the findings will indicate whether the

factors that influence the generation of trust beliefs

in an online context differ according to the

consumer’s level of technical skill.

All of these factors - the characteristics of the

online vendor, situational factors, third party

certification, the individual’s propensity to trust, and

the influence of perceived risk on the consumer’s

trust response, have been identified in the literature

as likely to have strong predictive importance in the

context of online shopping. However, whether this

is the case, and whether it remains consistent

regardless of cultural boundaries remains a matter of

conjecture. Similarly, the influence of technical skill

on the online consumer’s trust response has not

previously been determined. This study, therefore,

has both practical and theoretical value. It will

provide increased insight into the nature of the trust

construct as observed in the behaviour of users and

potential users of online shopping. By providing a

more refined understanding of the predictors and

moderators of trust it will make a valuable

contribution not only to information systems

research but also to the overall body of marketing,

trust and diffusion research.

It is expected that this study will significantly

extend our understanding of the phenomena along a

number of dimensions. As it is the first large-scale

empirical study of its kind in Ireland, it therefore

provides insight into the contrasting antecedents of

consumer trust in online shopping from a European

perspective. It clearly distinguishes between trust

and trust antecedents - an issue that has plagued trust

research to date. It builds on conceptualisations of

trust accepted by researchers and applied a validated

measurement instrument that has previously been

used by a trust researcher in another country. Thus,

it is anticipated that the test results will be used to

refine an existing model and increase our knowledge

of the factors that predict the online consumer’s trust

response.

WEBIST 2007 - International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies

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