Assessment of the impact of Web site design on consumer trust and the purchase decision

The business to consumer (B2C) Ecommerce market has experienced explosive growth in the last few years. Still, issues of consumer trust of online retailers appear to be retarding the growth of this emerging market place. Web site design features play an important role in facilitating consumer trust. However, there is little research integrating factors of trustworthiness with system success and the purchase decision. This dissertation provides a comprehensive model of Ecommerce usage based on trust, technology acceptance, and information system success theories. The model links antecedents of trust and the effect of trust on the willingness to buy from a site.; The model was empirically tested in a field experimental setting using real retail web sites for the purchase decision regarding a consumer electronics product. Web sites selected for the study vary in terms of the level of quality of third party icons, physical presence communication cues, and the quality of customer testimonials. The subjects were randomly assigned web sites for making their purchase decision. The subjects also completed surveys related to trust, task support satisfaction, and willingness to buy. The results of the surveys were statistically analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS).; Empirical testing provided strong support for the proposed theoretical model by explaining forty-six percent of the variance in the consumer's willingness to buy from a B2C web site. Study results suggest that the quality of third party icons influences the consumer's perception of the Ecommerce retailer's ability and benevolence. There is support that customer testimonials affect the consumer's perception of the retailer's integrity. Findings indicate that consumer's perceptions of the Ecommerce retailer's ability, benevolence, and integrity influence the level of trust in the retailer. Study results suggest that consumer perception of the retailer's ability and integrity affect the task support satisfaction with the retailer's web site. Findings indicate that trust in the retailer has both a direct and an indirect influence, through task support satisfaction, on willingness to buy from the retailer's web site. Study results suggest that retailers should emphasize well-known third party icons and detailed customer testimonials on their web sites to increase customer trust.