How perceived risk affects online buying
| Pages | 629-654 |
| Date | 07 August 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520910985657 |
| Published date | 07 August 2009 |
| Author | Sonia San Martín,Carmen Camarero |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
How perceived risk affects
online buying
Sonia San Martı
´n
Department of Economics and Business Administration,
Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain, and
Carmen Camarero
Department of Business Administration and Marketing,
Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a model that reflects the role that web site
cognitive and experiential signals, firm reputation, bricks-and-mortar experience, and consumer
satisfaction play as determinants of trust in the web site, taking into account the moderating effect of
consumer-perceived risk when buying online.
Design/methodology/approach – The investigation uses quantitative research methods. Data
collected from interviews with 507 Spanish online buyers are analysed through structural equation
modelling.
Findings – Internet users who buy online more frequently can trust a web site only based on their
previous satisfaction, whereas users who perceive more risks need to perceive that the firm has a good
reputation and bricks-and-mortar experience apart from other signals such the quality of the service.
Practical implications – The results show interesting implications for online vendors, who should
apply different commercial strategies to potential buyers according to the level of perceived risk.
Originality/value – This study empirically considers several signals that electronic retailers send to
the market in order to create buyer trust and satisfaction, while most studies on signals have been
theoretical and normative or have not contemplated so many signals simultaneously. Besides, this
paper has extended knowledge of the process of the generation of customer trust in online contexts for
different types of users according to their level of perceived risk.
Keywords Risk management,Trust, Customer satisfaction,Electronic commerce
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
A primary objective for fostering business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce is to
mitigate the lack of consumer confidence (Yoon, 2002; Ha, 2004) and to increase the
satisfaction in each transaction the consumer accomplishes. Relationship marketing
literature has largely related satisfied consumers with repeated purchases and even
with loyalty. Satisfaction is also essential to reduce the consumer’s uncertainty about
the virtual firm’s honesty and its ability to provide products and services efficiently. In
fact, the concept of trust is relevant in uncertainty situations (Ha, 2004).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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The authors would like to thank the Ministerio de Educacio
´n y Ciencia (Spain) for its support of
this research project (Ref SEJ 2007-63378). Also, the authors are indebted to the anonymous OIR
reviewers and the OIR Editor for their valuable suggestions and helpful comments.
Online buying
629
Refereed article received
9 July 2008
Approved for publication
20 December 2008
Online Information Review
Vol. 33 No. 4, 2009
pp. 629-654
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520910985657
Trust is mentioned in multiple studies as a key variable to promote B2C e-commerce
and is an important factor for successful online transactions (Bart et al. , 2005; Belanger
et al., 2002; Corbitt et al., 2003; Vrechopoulos et al., 2004; see also a review of the role of
trust in the online environment in Salo and Karjaluoto, 2007). Trust creates positive
attitudes about the future behaviour of the firm and influences the consumer’s buying
intentions, satisfaction and loyalty (Ganesan, 1994; Gefen, 2000; Yoon, 2002). However,
the generation of trust and the formation of online consumer satisfaction could depend
on the extent to which the consumer perceives risks and costs in online buying (e.g.
transaction costs or learning costs). The risks of online shopping are different from
those of bricks-and-mortar store shopping. Some causes of risk are the consumer’s
inability to value the quality of the product directly, the lack of personal contact with a
salesperson, the costs of learning how to use the internet or site, the change from other
channels to the electronic one, the generation of anxiety and stress for consumers who
don’t feel comfortable using the internet, the absence of interaction and social contact
with other people, and security of payment and personal information. However, the
perception of risks and costs is not identical for all consumers. While some buyers
perceive electronic commerce as a risky and expensive way of buying, others value the
advantages of e-commerce, such as the ease of information searching and of comparing
products and prices. Montoya-Weiss et al. (2003) indicated that the perceived risk
depends on the buyer’s general internet expertise as well as on the information
provided on the web site. In any case, it can be supposed that the perceived risk will
lead consumers to consider different signals when forming their attitude and feelings
towards a web site (satisfaction and trust).
In this context and following relationship marketing, signalling theory and online
behaviour models such as the technology acceptance model (TAM), the aim of this
study was to evaluate the degree to which the risk the consumer perceives in online
commerce determines the firm’s signals that influence the consumer’s satisfaction and
trust in a web site. More specifically, it is suggested that in order to solve the consumer
adverse selection problem, online vendors will try to generate trust by sending signals
like reputation, the firm’s bricks-and-mortar experience, and service quality or
warrantee offers (a firm’s characteristics and web site cognitive signals); but also
through previous satisfaction, in which variables like the design of the web site or the
interactive experience (experiential signals) have an influence. We have analysed the
moderating effect of the perceived risk when buying online and propose that the effect
of some signals on satisfaction and trust in the case of consumers who perceive high
risk is different from the effect on consumers who perceive low risk. It is important to
note that few studies are known to have examined the moderating effect of perceived
risk in B2C (Mayer et al., 1995; Roy et al., 2001; Kong and Hung, 2006).
In summary, the contributions of this paper are:
.the consideration of variables and arguments from different approaches and
theories;
.the analysis of risk as a moderating variable, which can produce differences in
perceptions, attitude and behaviour depending on the level of risk the consumer
perceives when buying online; and
.the testing of an empirical model with the help of structural equation modelling
and multi-group analysis to know the moderating effect of risk.
OIR
33,4
630
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