An examination of trust assurances adopted by top internet retailers: unveiling some critical determinants

Abstract

This paper investigates the different trust assurances adopted by internet retailers and tries to identify a link between the characteristics of an online vendor (i.e., cost of merchandise sold, reputation, offline presence, etc...) and the specific types of trust assurances applied. The findings demonstrate that e-retailers with a relatively stronger reputation rely more on internally provided e-assurance mechanisms, such as a privacy policy or a money back guarantee, and that they make less use of third party trust endorsements. Internally-provided e-assurances also appear to be utilized more by e-retailers putting more expensive products on the market and less by those selling cheaper products. The findings regarding externally-provided e-assurances also show that third party trust endorsements such as privacy seals, security seals and award seals are adopted almost exclusively by e-retailers who sell more expensive products as compared to those selling products lower in monetary value. The results demonstrate that these findings regarding the impact of the `monetary value of goods traded' on the adoption of externally-provided e-assurances remain valid when controlling for `reputation' and `offline presence'. The results also reveal that total seal investments are higher among e-commerce companies with a weaker `reputation', among those `without offline presence', and among e-tailers selling relatively `more expensive merchandise'.