An empirical study of multi-dimensional trust and E-loyalty in E-commerce

Abstract

Due to the increased adoption of the Internet over the last decade, business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce has become a popular medium for consumers to purchase products or services. However, despite a growth in e-commerce, it is difficult to succeed in online businesses because customers can easily switch between competitors and it is difficult to gain consumers' trust online. Trust is a complex and multifaceted issue that must be addressed from multiple angles. Previous research on trust has attempted to understand consumers' attitudes, intentions, and behaviours that are related to trust in online shopping. However, few studies have provided a comprehensive understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of the trust construct such as the impacts of different trust dimensions on e-loyalty, inter-relationships among trust dimensions, and antecedents of different trust dimensions. The objective of this research is to fill the gaps by investigating the factors that affect different types of trust, the relationships among different types of trust and the importance of the trust issues in forming e-loyalty in the online environment. Led by the literature, a research model was proposed and hypotheses were developed to explore the answers to the research questions. Data was collected through a web-based survey in Chinese markets and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to analyse the data. Empirical results showed that all three dimensions of trust had impacts on e-loyalty. Dispositional trust had an impact on institutional trust, and institutional trust had an impact on interpersonal trust. Among the factors that influence interpersonal trust, store reputation and information quality not only had significantly impacts on interpersonal trust, but also mediated the relationships between other antecedents and interpersonal trust. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on trust by exploring the nature of trust with a multi-dimensional scale. Another theoretical contribution is the provision of a comprehensive understanding of the trust antecedents in e-commerce. Furthermore, this research benefits the companies doing e-businesses by allowing them to better understand how to improve consumers' trust in the online environment and thus to retain and attract more loyal customers and succeed in online businesses.