Chinese students' trust in the safety of food purchased through online channels : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Food Safety Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

With the rapid development of E-commerce, online food shopping has become popular in the past decade in China. Considering the high level of concern that the Chinese have about food safety, there are questions around trust in the safety of food purchased online. The aim of this study is to analyse the factors influencing trust in food safety when Chinese university students purchase food via the internet. In order to examine the trust of Chinese university students in the safety of food purchased online, a survey was conducted on students from four Chinese universities in 2013. Data analysis was conducted on 1403 valid questionnaires. A Structural Equation Model, Principal Components Analysis and LISREL software were used as statistical tools for analysis. Trust in food safety is a dynamic process and is based on food risk information transfer. The main outcome of this study was the development of a multi-factor conceptual model of Chinese university students’ trust in the safety of food purchased online. This model consists of two separate determinants: food safety and the online shopping environment. Chinese university students were influenced more by the online shopping environment than by concerns with food safety. Trust in food safety is mainly influenced by two dimensions: Food Control (the general and constant element of trust) and Risk information (the changeable element of trust). Trust in the online shopping environment is influenced by two dimensions: Aesthetics and Functionality. Fourteen factors were found contributing to the trust in online food safety; traceability, media and delivery risk need more attention by industry. Since university students will become important online food shopping buyers when they graduate, New Zealand food industries that export to China should consider these factors that influence sales via the internet

UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRUST IN SOCIAL COMMERCE WEBSITES

The social commerce represents a new form of electronic commerce mediated by social networking sites. It provides companies with competitive tools for online promotion, and it also assists consumers to make better-informed purchasing decisions based on the sharing of experiences from other consumers. Trust is important in social commerce environment as it serves as a foundation for consumers to evaluate product information from companies as well as from other consumers. However, extant literature still lacks clear understanding of the nature of trust in social commerce. This study sets out to understand trust development in social commerce websites. Specifically, based on trust transference theory, we develop a research model to examine how consumer trust in social commerce impacts their trust in the company and their electronic word of mouth intention. In addition, we also examine how customers’ prior transaction experience with a company could impact their social commerce trust development and serve as a mediator in the trust transfer process. The research model is empirically examined using a survey method consisting of 375 users of a social commerce website. This study contributes to the conceptual and empirical understanding of trust in social commerce. The academic and practical implications of this study are also discussed

Trust and perceived risk in consumer behaviour: a preliminary study in electronic commerce

The digital world has come to challenge companies, approaching everyone everywhere. Challenges that extend to all levels, not only economic, but also at a relational level, since the relationships themselves, and the way in which people relate and behave, have also undergone modifications. Its indefinite nature, among the news about the various unlawfulness that have occurred in the digital medium, make the online consumer develop a certain prudence in the use of this medium, especially in regard to their trust in it. Thus, it is clear the need for companies operating in this medium, in addition to addressing new business models and take advantage of the great benefits offered by this new digital era, including in their strategies the needs and expectations of their customers, achieving what build a reliable image. Taking into account the above, this paper seeks to understand the role of trust in the online environment in Portugal and technological information for users. In particular, a conceptual model, to be empirically tested, will be proposed and analysed. The authors suggest the relationship between different variables in the online context (i.e. trust, perceived risk, perceived usefulness, ease of use and purchase intention). From the analysis of these data it was possible to conclude that perceived risk and perceived ease of use presented a strong relationship with trust. Regarding the purchase intention, the variables that showed the greatest influence were perceived risk, perceived ease of use and trust. In an interdisciplinary perspective, the present manuscript presents contributions to the area of electronic marketing, relational marketing and consumer behaviour. In the end, some conclusions and next lines of research will be presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exploring the impact of marketing strategies on building trust in the online shopping

Ovaj rad bavi se marketinškim strategijama koje za cilj imaju izgradnju poverenja kupaca u onlajn okruženju. Kako bi se postiglo razumevanje okolnosti koje uticu na ove strategije, analizirani su postojeci koncepti i literatura u oblasti onlajn trgovine, poverenja kupaca, sa posebnim osvrtom na faktore koji uticu na poverenje u onlajn okruženju. Istraživanjem faktora poverenja, izdvojeni su faktori za koje je statisticka analiza potvrdila da imaju uticaj na izgradnju poverenja onlajn kupaca. Na osnovu ovih faktora i postojecih teorijskih koncepata, kreiran je okvir izgradnje poverenja kupaca u onlajn okruženju. Ovaj okvir pored opštih smernica formulisanih u vidu marketinških strategija, sadrži i preporuke za implementaciju ovih strategija u praksi. Doprinos disertacije ogleda se u nekoliko kljucnih oblasti: (1) izvršena je sistematizacija literature u oblasti poverenja uopšteno, modela na koje se izgradnja poverenja oslanja i poverenja u onlajn okruženju; (2) dat je sveobuhvatni prikaz stanja prakse u svetu i u zemlji, koji omogucava precizan uvid u oblast onlajn trgovine; (3) kreiran je konceptualni okvir poverenja, kojim je poverenje rašclanjeno u konceptualne celine uz njihov detaljan opis. Ovaj konceptualni okvir obezbeduje temeljan uvid u pojam onlajn poverenja i predstavlja osnovu za dalje formulisanje strategija, aktivnosti i instrumenata za izgradnju onlajn poverenja, ali može poslužiti i kao model za analizu slicnih koncepata, kao što su lojalnost ili zadovoljstvo; (4) identifikovani su faktori koji uticu na poverenje kupaca u onlajn okruženju i predstavljeni na sistematizovan i logican nacin, što cini osnovne smernice za aktivnosti kompanija koje žele da unaprede poverenje onlajn kupaca (5) predstavljen je teorijski okvir kreiranja strategija u onlajn okruženju, koji predstavlja obuhvatan vodic i cija mogucnost primene je znatno šira u odnosu na predmet disertacije. Ovaj okvir moguce je primeniti u procesu kreiranja strategija koje se odnose na ostale aspekte onlajn trgovine, zatim kod strategija vezanih za onlajn obrazovanje, onlajn bankarstvo i brojne druge koncepte; (6) kreiran je okvir izgradnje poverenja, koji ukljucuje strategije i konkretne aktivnosti implementacije, cija primena u praksi obezbeduje izgradnju poverenja onlajn kupaca, kao i smanjenje percipiranog rizika, povecanje percipirane korisnosti i lakoce korišcenja veb sajta prodavnice.This paper deals with marketing strategies aimed at building customers’ trust in an online environment. In order to understand the circumstances that influence these strategies, the existing concepts and literature in the field of online commerce and customers’ trust, have been analyzed, with a special emphasis on the factors that influence trust in an online environment. By researching trust factors, factors confirmed to have influence on online customers’ trust have been singled out. Based on these factors and on the existing theoretical concepts, the framework for building customers’ trust in an online environment has been created. This framework, besides the theoretical guidelines formulated in the form of marketing strategies, provides detailed recommendations for the implementation of these strategies in practice. The contribution of the dissertation is reflected in several key areas: (1) systematization of literature has been done in the area of trust in general, the models in building trust and trust in an online environment; (2) a comprehensive overview of the state of practice in the world and the country, which allows precise insight into the field of online commerce; (3) a conceptual framework of trust has been created, dividing trust into conceptual units with their detailed description. This conceptual framework provides fundamental insight into the concept of online trust and the basis for further formulation of strategies, activities and tools for building online trust, but can also serve as a model for an analysis of similar concepts, such as loyalty and satisfaction; (4) the factors affecting the trust of the customers in an online environment have been identified and presented in a systematic and logical manner, which creates the basic guidelines for the activities of companies that want to improve the confidence of online shoppers (5) a theoretical framework for creating strategies in an online environment has been presented, as a comprehensive guide with a wider possibility for application than the subject of the dissertation. This framework is applicable to the formulation of strategies related to other aspects of online commerce, as well as with the strategies related to online education, online banking and many other concepts, (6) a framework for building trust which involves strategies and concrete activities of implementation, the application of which in practice enables building online consumers’ trust, reducing the perceived risk, the increase in the perceived usefulness and ease of use of the website store is created

Exploring the corporate image formation process

Purpose - This paper aims to demonstrate the need to explore the image formation process to develop a more holistic definition of corporate image. Diminishing trust in managers has created increasingly negative perceptions toward corporations. Stakeholders are constantly evaluating and scrutinizing corporations to determine their trustworthiness and authenticity. To develop their perceptions toward these corporations, stakeholders rely on the key role of corporate image. In the present study, the complex relationships between corporate image, corporate reputation, corporate communication and corporate personality are investigated. These concepts form a corporation’s image formation process. Design/methodology/approach - Radley Yelday (RY), the communications agency collaborating in this research, facilitated 15 interviews with their employees. Using a semi structured interviewing method, discussions were guided toward the topic of corporate image among the respondents. Findings - Findings reveal the importance of corporate image under seven different dimensions: visual expression, positive feelings, environments expression, online appearance, staff/employees appearance, attitude and behavior and external communications (offline, online and effectiveness). Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed with suggestions for future researches. Originality/value - The authors develop a conceptual model that illustrates the corporate image formation process. The model includes seven dimensions – both with tangible and intangible aspects – forming corporate communication and corporate personality. These, in turn, translate into the corporate image. With time and experiences, corporate image creates a more consistent reputation, which consists of five different levels: awareness, familiarity, favorability, trust and advocacy. As demonstrated in this research, the seven key dimensions influencing this process are: visual expression, positive feelings, environment, online appearance, staff/employees appearance, attitude and behavior and external communications

An empirical investigation of the impacts of website quality on consumer loyalty: a case of baby boomers

Online shopping has become increasingly popular with sales of $263 billion in 2013 an increase of 36$30,001 - $60,000 (32%). A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed on website quality items (e.g., system quality). As a result, two factors were chosen for system quality (i.e., web appearance and interactivity); two factors were selected for information quality (i.e., security and informativeness); and two factors were chosen for service quality (i.e., fulfillment and responsiveness). Confirmatory factor analysis via LISREL 8.8 using maximum likelihood estimation was subsequently performed to confirm the factor structure of website quality. To test all hypothesized relationships, we followed a two-step structural equation modeling approach. Results revealed that system quality dimensions (web appearance and interactivity) did not positively impact overall perceived website quality. The information quality dimension of informativeness did positively impact overall perceived website quality but information quality dimension of security did not positively impact overall perceived website quality. Service quality dimension of fulfillment did not positively impact overall perceived website quality but service quality dimension of responsiveness did positively impact overall perceived website quality. In addition, results also showed that overall perceived website quality positively impacts trust, which in turn, influences loyalty in terms of WOM, repatronage intentions, and share of wallet. Furthermore, overall perceived website quality was found to positively influence satisfaction, but satisfaction was not found to positively influence trust. However, we only found that satisfaction positively influenced WOM and share of wallet but not repatronage intentions. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided. Limitations and future research directions are addressed

Deception Detection in a Computer-Mediated Environment: Gender, Trust, and Training Issues

The Department of Defense is increasingly relying on computer-mediated communications to conduct business. This reliance introduces an amplified vulnerability to strategic information manipulation, or deception. This research draws on communication and deception literature to develop a conceptual model proposing relationships between deception detection abilities in a computer-mediated environment, gender, trust, and training. An experiment was conducted with 119 communications personnel to test the proposed hypotheses. No relationship between gender or trust and deception detection accuracy was found. Partial support was found showing that training improves deception detection accuracy. The most significant finding was that individual’s deception detection abilities deteriorate in lean media environments. The results showed significant differences in deception detection abilities across media types; indicating lower accuracy rates in the lean media environments (i.e. audio and text). This suggests that deception detection is more difficult when the deceptive message is presented in a lean medium such as a text only online chat, than when delivered in richer medium. Future research should be conducted to further explore this finding

Mapping the Online Gambling e-Servicescape: A Conceptual Model

A conceptual model is proposed that examines the potential influence of an online casino’s atmospheric cues and functional qualities on consumer behavioral response. A stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, often used to frame other servicescape research, is adapted as the basis of the theory that the online casino environment will influence the organismic effects of cognitive and affective states, which in turn influence gamblers’ approach or avoidance behavioral intentions. Theorized elements of the virtual stimulus include high and low task-relevant cues, financial trust, and gambling value. Personal and situational factors, as well as demographic characteristics, are proposed to moderate the relationship between the servicescape and organismic responses. Propositions are presented and research implications are presented