Consumer Intentions to Adopt Electronic Commerce - Incorporating Trust and Risk in the Technology Acceptance Model

This research describes consumer intentions to adopt e-commerce by predicting behavioral intentions to use Internet technologies for online transactions, drawing upon Ajzen’s (1985, 1988, 1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB). Consumer intention to adopt e-commerce is proposed as a behavioral intention to exchange information online, share confidential and monetary information, and engage in product purchases. Drawing upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), since online transactions entail consumers to use Internet technologies to a great extent, e-commerce adoption intentions essentially necessitate that consumers perceive Web interfaces to be useful and easy to use. In addition, the novel and impersonal nature of online transactions and the technological unpredictability of the Internet reduce consumer perceptions of control over their online transactions, making trust and risk beliefs inevitable elements of online consumer behavior. This research incorporates the constructs of trust and perceived risk with TAM major constructs to predict e-commerce adoption intentions, following TPB. Consequently, a set of testable hypotheses that interrelate intentions to transact online with perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, and trust is proposed. The resulting research model is validated using data from three exploratory experiential studies with 103 subjects using three different scenarios. The results give substantial support for the proposed hypotheses, while explaining 64% of the variation for consumer intentions to adopt e-commerce. The paper discusses several insights from this exploratory study, proposes several future research directions, and concludes with implications for theory and research

Online job auctions are more successful when bids are open for all to see

Open-bid auctions are more likely to result in a contract, write Yili Hong and Paul A. Pavlou

Building Effective Online Marketplaces with Institution-Based Trust

Despite the inherent risk arising from separating buyers and sellers, networked online marketplaces are proliferating. We describe how online auction marketplaces take advantage of institutional structures to build buyer trust in auction sellers, mitigate risk, increase satisfaction, and promote transaction intentions. It is hypothesized, based on institutional trust (Zucker 1986), that buyer trust in auction sellers can be increased, beyond past experience with sellers, through structural assurances, such as buyer-driven certification, auction house escrows, and credit card guarantees. We examined buyer transaction intentions, mediated by trusting beliefs, risk reduction, and satisfaction. The model is tested with 274 buyers in Amazonís online auction marketplace. The results support the hypotheses, highlighting the importance of institution-based trust in online networks. Implications are discussed