A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: the role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents

Document Information:
Title:	A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: the role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents
Author(s):	Kim D J, Ferrin D L, Rao H R
Journal:	Decision Support Systems, Jan 2008, Volume: 44 Issue: 2 pp.544-564 (21 pages)
Issn:	0167-9236

Keywords:	Decision Making, Electronic Commerce, Internet, Internet, Retail Trade, Retailing, Risk Assessment, Students, Surveys, Trust, User Involvement, User Satisfaction, User Studies
Article type:	Research paper
DOI:	10.1016/j.dss.2007.07.001
Reference:	37AD482 (Permanent URL)
Abstract:	Purpose - To develop a holistic trust-based consumer decision model to describe the consumer's decision making process when making a purchase from an electronic commerce (e-commerce) Web site. Design/methodology/approach - A review of the literature of the role of trust and perceived risk in e-commerce is presented. Describes the development of a research framework, using a structural equation modelling technique, to study how consumers decide whether or not to make an e-commerce Web site purchase. Reports the application of the framework to a Worldwide Web based questionnaire survey involving 468 undergraduate students, who were required to go through the entire buying process up to but excluding the clicking of the buy button to purchase the product. Findings - The results indicated that a consumer's trust directly and indirectly influences their purchasing intention and that the consumer's trust has a strong positive effect on the purchasing intention as well as a strong negative effect on a consumer's perceived risk. Provides evidence that a consumer's perceived risk reduces the consumer's intention to purchase, whereas a consumer's perceived benefit increases the consumer's intention to purchase. Concludes that trust to a large degree addresses the risk problem in e-commerce by reducing perceived risk and by increasing purchase intentions directly. Research limitations/implications - The research was limited by the use of students and by the relative youth of the users, since non-students and older consumers might behave differently. Practical implications - The results highlight trust-enhancing factors that may guide developers of e-commerce Web sites. Originality/value - Differs from most studies that tend to focus on consumers' successful purchasing outcomes by examining outcomes that were not successful resulting in non-purchases, to provide a more complete picture of the decision making processes involved.