On The Impacts Of Chinese Cultural Factors On Online Trust In E-commerce For The Chinese Internet Users

Trust is the center of both interpersonal relations and business relations. When risk, uncertainty and interdependence exist, trust becomes a crucial factor. Along with the development of society and the application of the Internet and Information Technology in business field, e-commerce comes into being as a new business model. Business becomes more complicated: physical separation of product and capital, the requirement of private information provided by the customers and the like. Furthermore, trust issue becomes especially prominent in e-commerce for the lack of regulations, formal contracts and receipts in regulating business activities. The steady growth of the Internet users all over the world has brought a number of opportunities and challenges for regional and global e-commerce. Different characteristics of the Internet in local environments, both infrastructural and cultural, have created significant variations in the trust and acceptance of e-commerce in different regions of the world. Therefore, the knowledge of the impacts of cultural factors on online trust is very important to promote the development of national e-commerce.For the relationship between culture and online trust, previous researches did not go in deep level and most of them focused on the subjects from English-speaking and newly-industrialized countries. In order to fill this gap, this dissertation focuses on the impacts of Chinese cultural factors on online trust in e-commerce for the Chinese Internet users and tries to answer the following research questions through investigation:①.If technological and transactional systems are available, do the Chinese Internet users use e-commerce and what e-commerce activities do they have?②.Do the Chinese cultural factors (collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, the benefits of guan xi and friendly negotiation between the seller and the customer face to face) have impacts on online trust in e-commerce for the Chinese Internet users? If the answer is affirmative, to what extent do these Chinese cultural factors influence their online trust?Results show that if technological and transactional systems are available, some Chinese Internet users would use e-commerce. The most popular items in their online shopping are books and other products from 100 to 299 RMB. Bank transfer is the main method of payment,and a doorstep service for delivery is preferred for most Chinese Internet users. Moreover, the four Chinese cultural factors all have deep impacts on online trust for the Chinese Internet users. It indicates that culture influences people in deep level. However, the people who have experienced online shopping exhibit lower impacts in collectivism and uncertainty avoidance compared to the people who have not. It can be concluded that with the e-commerce development in China and increasing online experience of Chinese people, the impacts of culture on them are changing slowly.In spite of the limitations in some aspects, as an exploratory study, the results, in a sense, still prove that online trust for the Chinese Internet users is deeply influenced by the Chinese traditional cultural factors. Furthermore, the author affirms the potential of e-commerce development in China, and provides some suggestions for wider diffusion and acceptance of e-commerce in China.