Online Signals, Consumer Trust and Confidence in Online Commerce

Abstract

Drawing on signaling theory, this study investigates how reputation, perceived ethics, service quality, and website design influence consumer trust in e-commerce, and how trust, in turn, shapes consumer confidence in online transactions. Using a web-based survey of online shoppers, the proposed relationships are intended to be tested through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The study offers an integrated framework for understanding how online signals help reduce information asymmetry and strengthen confidence in e-commerce