• Information Systems Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.17-41
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• 2011

A review of the related literature indicates that consumers' risk perceptions are largely affected by product involvement. This study investigates the impact of product involvement on required trust level and the online merchant choice. We developed a conceptual model that depicts the nomological relationships among product involvement, required trust level, and the online merchant choice, and formulated three hypotheses based on the conceptual model. An empirical study designed to accomplish the research objectives has been conducted using a questionnaire survey with 230 students in a university in Korea. The findings indicated that high-involvement products have higher trust level as required by consumers than low-involvement products, that consumers buying high-involvement products prefer digital storefronts, and that consumers buying low-involvement products prefer B2C e-marketplaces. The paper offers implications for academics as well as practitioners, based on the research results.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.29-52
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• 2012

Consumers differ in the way they make a purchase. An audio mania would willingly make a bold, yet serious, decision to buy a top-of-the-line home theater system, while he is not interested in replacing his two-decade-old shabby car. On the contrary, an automobile enthusiast wouldn't mind spending forty thousand dollars to buy a new Jaguar convertible, yet cares little about his junky component system. It is product involvement that helps us explain such differences among individuals in the purchase style. Product involvement refers to the extent to which a product is perceived to be important to a consumer (Zaichkowsky, 2001). Product involvement is an important factor that strongly influences consumer's purchase decision-making process, and thus has been of prime interest to consumer behavior researchers. Furthermore, researchers found that involvement is closely related to perceived risk (Dholakia, 2001). While abundant research exists addressing how product involvement relates to overall perceived risk, little attention has been paid to the relationship between involvement and different types of perceived risk in an electronic commerce setting. Given that perceived risk can be a substantial barrier to the online purchase (Jarvenpaa, 2000), research addressing such an issue will offer useful implications on what specific types of perceived risk an online firm should focus on mitigating if it is to increase sales to a fullest potential. Meanwhile, past research has focused on such consumer responses as information search and dissemination as a consequence of involvement, neglecting other behavioral responses like online merchant selection. For one example, will a consumer seriously considering the purchase of a pricey Guzzi bag perceive a great degree of risk associated with online buying and therefore choose to buy it from a digital storefront rather than from an online marketplace to mitigate risk? Will a consumer require greater trust on the part of the online merchant when the perceived risk of online buying is rather high? We intend to find answers to these research questions through an empirical study. This paper explores the impact of enduring product involvement and perceived risks on required trust level, and further on online merchant choice. For the purpose of the research, five types or components of perceived risk are taken into consideration, including financial, performance, delivery, psychological, and social risks. A research model has been built around the constructs under consideration, and 12 hypotheses have been developed based on the research model to examine the relationships between enduring involvement and five components of perceived risk, between five components of perceived risk and required trust level, between enduring involvement and required trust level, and finally between required trust level and preference toward an e-tailer. To attain our research objectives, we conducted an empirical analysis consisting of two phases of data collection: a pilot test and main survey. The pilot test was conducted using 25 college students to ensure that the questionnaire items are clear and straightforward. Then the main survey was conducted using 295 college students at a major university for nine days between December 13, 2010 and December 21, 2010. The measures employed to test the model included eight constructs: (1) enduring involvement, (2) financial risk, (3) performance risk, (4) delivery risk, (5) psychological risk, (6) social risk, (7) required trust level, (8) preference toward an e-tailer. The statistical package, SPSS 17.0, was used to test the internal consistency among the items within the individual measures. Based on the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficients of the individual measure, the reliability of all the variables is supported. Meanwhile, the Amos 18.0 package was employed to perform a confirmatory factor analysis designed to assess the unidimensionality of the measures. The goodness of fit for the measurement model was satisfied. Unidimensionality was tested using convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The statistical evidences proved that the three types of validity were all satisfied. Now the structured equation modeling technique was used to analyze the individual paths along the relationships among the research constructs. The results indicated that enduring involvement has significant positive relationships with all the five components of perceived risk, while only performance risk is significantly related to trust level required by consumers for purchase. It can be inferred from the findings that product performance problems are mostly likely to occur when a merchant behaves in an opportunistic manner. Positive relationships were also found between involvement and required trust level and between required trust level and online merchant choice. Enduring involvement is concerned with the pleasure a consumer derives from a product class and/or with the desire for knowledge for the product class, and thus is likely to motivate the consumer to look for ways of mitigating perceived risk by requiring a higher level of trust on the part of the online merchant. Likewise, a consumer requiring a high level of trust on the merchant will choose a digital storefront rather than an e-marketplace, since a digital storefront is believed to be trustworthier than an e-marketplace, as it fulfills orders by itself rather than acting as an intermediary. The findings of the present research provide both academic and practical implications. The first academic implication is that enduring product involvement is a strong motivator of consumer responses, especially the selection of a merchant, in the context of electronic shopping. Secondly, academicians are advised to pay attention to the finding that an individual component or type of perceived risk can be used as an important research construct, since it would allow one to pinpoint the specific types of risk that are influenced by antecedents or that influence consequents. Meanwhile, our research provides implications useful for online merchants (both online storefronts and e-marketplaces). Merchants may develop strategies to attract consumers by managing perceived performance risk involved in purchase decisions, since it was found to have significant positive relationship with the level of trust required by a consumer on the part of the merchant. One way to manage performance risk would be to thoroughly examine the product before shipping to ensure that it has no deficiencies or flaws. Secondly, digital storefronts are advised to focus on symbolic goods (e.g., cars, cell phones, fashion outfits, and handbags) in which consumers are relatively more involved than others, whereas e- marketplaces should put their emphasis on non-symbolic goods (e.g., drinks, books, MP3 players, and bike accessories).

• Proceedings of the CALSEC Conference
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• 2004.02a
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• pp.75-82
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• 2004

Recently introduced by the major credit card associations as replacements for the decommissioned SET and 3DSET protocols, the new payment models, 3DSecure and UCAF/SPA, have been designed to provide online merchants with a solution to an existing problem in online credit card transactions - the lack of an effective and efficient means of authenticating cardholders. The expected benefits arising from this added level of security from the merchant′s perspective are increased consumer confidence, significant reduction in the levels of fraud and charge backs and "liability shift". Using data gleaned from preliminary interviews, discussion forums and promotional material, we present a critical analysis of the potential barriers and facilitators that will impact on the widespread traction of these programs in the marketplace in the coming years.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-25
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• 2011

Internet-based commerce has undergone an explosive growth over the past decade as consumers today find it more economical as well as more convenient to shop online. Nevertheless, the shift in the common mode of shopping from offline to online commerce has caused consumers to have worries over such issues as private information leakage, online fraud, discrepancy in product quality and grade, unsuccessful delivery, and so forth, Numerous studies have been undertaken to examine the role of perceived risk as a chief barrier to online purchases and to understand the theoretical relationships among perceived risk, trust and purchase intentions, However, most studies focus on empirically investigating the effects of trust on perceived risk, with little attention devoted to the effects of perceived risk on trust, While the influence trust has on perceived risk is worth studying, the influence in the opposite direction is equally important, enabling insights into the potential of perceived risk as a prohibitor of trust, According to Pavlou (2003), the primary source of the perceived risk is either the technological uncertainty of the Internet environment or the behavioral uncertainty of the transaction partner. Due to such types of uncertainty, an increase in the worries over the perceived risk may negatively affect trust, For example, if a consumer who sends sensitive transaction data over Internet is concerned that his or her private information may leak out because of the lack of security, trust may decrease (Olivero and Lunt, 2004), By the same token, if the consumer feels that the online merchant has the potential to profit by behaving in an opportunistic manner taking advantage of the remote, impersonal nature of online commerce, then it is unlikely that the merchant will be trusted, That is, the more the probable danger is likely to occur, the less trust and the greater need to control the transaction (Olivero and Lunt, 2004), In summary, a review of the related studies indicates that while some researchers looked at the influence of overall perceived risk on trust level, not much attention has been given to the effects of different types of perceived risk, In this context the present research aims at addressing the need to study how trust is affected by different types of perceived risk, We classified perceived risk into six different types based on the literature, and empirically analyzed the impact of each type of perceived risk upon consumer trust in an online merchant and further its impact upon purchase intentions. To meet our research objectives, we developed a conceptual model depicting the nomological structure of the relationships among our research variables, and also formulated a total of seven hypotheses. The model and hypotheses were tested using an empirical analysis based on a questionnaire survey of 206 college students. The reliability was evaluated via Cronbach's alphas, the minimum of which was found to be 0.73, and therefore the questionnaire items are all deemed reliable. In addition, the results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) designed to check the validity of the measurement model indicate that the convergent, discriminate, and nomological validities of the model are all acceptable. The structural equation modeling analysis to test the hypotheses yielded the following results. Of the first six hypotheses (H1-1 through H1-6) designed to examine the relationships between each risk type and trust, three hypotheses including H1-1 (performance risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust), H1-2 (psychological risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust) and H1-5 (online payment risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust) were supported with path coefficients of -0.30, -0.27 and -0.16 respectively. Finally, H2 (trust ${\rightarrow}$ purchase intentions) was supported with relatively high path coefficients of 0.73. Results of the empirical study offer the following findings and implications. First. it was found that it was performance risk, psychological risk and online payment risk that have a statistically significant influence upon consumer trust in an online merchant. It implies that a consumer may find an online merchant untrustworthy if either the product quality or the product grade does not match his or her expectations. For that reason, online merchants including digital storefronts and e-marketplaces are suggested to pursue a strategy focusing on identifying the target customers and offering products that they feel best meet performance and psychological needs of those customers. Thus, they should do their best to make it widely known that their products are of as good quality and grade as those purchased from offline department stores. In addition, it may be inferred that today's online consumers remain concerned about the security of the online commerce environment due to the repeated occurrences of hacking or private information leakage. Online merchants should take steps to remove potential vulnerabilities and provide online notices to emphasize that their website is secure. Second, consumer's overall trust was found to have a statistically significant influence on purchase intentions. This finding, which is consistent with the results of numerous prior studies, suggests that increased sales will become a reality only with enhanced consumer trust.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.615-630
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• 2019

Purpose: Based on the theory of "Stimulus-Organism-Response" (S-O-R), this thesis takes customer forgiveness as a medium variable to explore the impact of merchant service remedy on customer behavior intention in the context of online shopping service failure. This thesis divides the merchant service remedy into two dimensions: spiritual recovery and material recovery, and reveals the influence difference of different merchant service remedy methods on customer behavior intention and the mediating role of customer forgiveness. Methods : 325 questionnaires were distributed and 307 valid questionnaires were collected for data analysis. The relationship between potential variables is proposed by using Structural Equations Modeling. Results : The two dimensions of service recovery have significant positive impact on customer forgiveness, and physical recovery has greater impact on customer forgiveness. In the influence of physical recovery on customer behavior intention, customer forgiveness is a partial mediating effect. However, in the influence of spiritual recovery on customer behavior intention, customer forgiveness is a complete mediating effect. Conclusion : In case of service faults, merchants should take the initiative to provide appropriate physical recovery and provide spiritual recovery sincerely and patiently. Only in this way can they regain good impression in the hearts of consumers and promote them to improve the quality of service recovery, so as to increase their willingness to repurchase Intention and positive word of mouth.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.51-70
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• 2011

This paper introduces a new credit card payment scheme called No Number Credit Card that can significantly reduce the possibility of credit card fraud. The proposed payment system is loosely based on Kerberos, a cryptographic framework that has stood the test of time. In No Number Credit Card, instead of card numbers, only payment tokens are exchanged between the customers and merchants. The tokens are generated based on the payment amount, payment type, client information, and merchant information. However, it does not contain the credit card number, so the merchant or a database hacker cannot acquire and illegally use any credit card numbers. The No Number Credit Card system is ideal for online e-commerce transactions and can be used with any credit card that users possess. It can be used with minor modifications to the current card payment system. We provide the principles of its operation through scenario analysis, a sample implementation, and a security analysis

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.252-283
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• 2020

Online retail is a growing opportunity for retailers and consumers. Cross-buying provides companies with an opportunity to increase their revenue contributions from existing consumers. In many fields, especially in the service sector, cross-selling is an easier strategy to use relative to increasing revenue rather than acquiring new consumers. Website personalization has been a powerful indispensable tool for web-based companies and end users. Using the Mehrabian and Russell's Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, we experimentally examined how an online retailing merchant's environmental stimuli (S) arouses internal affective and cognitive states (O), that affect consumers' approach-avoidance behavior (R) in cross-buying and shopping cart abandonment in online transactions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.880-892
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• 2009

An overflow of information leads consumers to be easily distracted and to neglect the information being provided to them. E-tailers have to select types of information sources and provide their consumers with the most appropriate information. This study was done to specifically contribute to the research in proposing strategies of providing information of the Internet merchant to the e-shoppers through the analysis of relationships among the online purchase motives of consumers, the use of information sources, and decision making styles. This research categorizes the use of information sources into information sources concerning online stores and information sources concerning products. The uses of information sources relative to online stores are classified into the neutral, human, and marketer-oriented sources. The uses of information sources concerning the products are classified into the online and offline source. This study provides important suggestions for e-tailers to provide information about stores as well as products to the consumers with adaptable strategies.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1231-1245
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• 2015

People have transferred their business model from traditional commerce to e-commerce in recent decades. Both shopping and payment can be completed through the Internet and bring convenience to consumers and business opportunities to industry. These trade techniques are mostly set up based on the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL provides the security for transaction information and is easy to set up, which makes it is widely accepted by individuals. Although attackers cannot obtain the real content even when the transferred information is intercepted, still there is risk for online trade. For example, it is impossible to prevent credit card information from being stolen by virtual merchant. Therefore, we propose a new mechanism to solve such security problem. We make use of the disposable dynamic security code (DSC) to replace traditional card security code. So even attackers get DSC for that round of transaction, they cannot use it for the next time. Besides, we apply visual secret sharing techniques to transfer the DSC, so that interceptors cannot retrieve the real DSC even for one round of trade. This way, we can improve security of credit card transaction and reliability of online business. The experiments results validate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed mechanism.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.65-80
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• 2006

This paper proposes a new infrastructure that supports divisible card payment where a combination of multiple credit cards can be used for a single purchase. The divisible card payment infrastructure modifies the existing payment system in two ways. First, the V-Card Manager(VCM) is added to the merchant side to handle the divisible card approval process from respective credit-card issuers. Second, the V-Card Agent(VA) is added to the customer side and generates a customized divisible card, called V-Card, based on the customer's preferences. This paper provides a customizing card payment method that supports divisible payments based on profits and preferences of customers.