E-commerce Vendors Research Articles

Factors Influencing Customers’ Online Shopping Behavior in Malaysia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The article presents an overview of the arguments and rebuttals made in the scientific discourse regarding Malaysia's expanding online shopping trend, particularly in light of the COVID-19 epidemic. This scientific decision is significant since the widespread usage of COVID-19 has altered consumer purchasing behavior and how firms operate globally by reducing potential risks such as making the wrong purchase or falling prey to online fraud. This study aims to determine the impact of perceived risk, trust, and product diversity on consumers' decisions to purchase things online in Malaysia's Klang Valley. The study utilized a quantitative survey methodology, selecting 327 sample sizes from a targeted demographic of online shoppers using Krejcie and Morgan tables. SPSS was used for descriptive and inferential analyses. The study found that product variety, trust, and perceived risk significantly predict consumers' online buying behavior in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trust and product variety moderately influence online purchasing, while perceived risk has a negative impact. In contrast to perceived risk (standardized coefficient = -.252), which has a negative and moderate impact, the results indicate that product variety (standardized coefficient =.571) and trust (standardized coefficient =.461) have an average influence on customers' online purchase behaviors. The study supports all hypotheses (H1, H2, and H3), indicating that trust, perceived risk, and product variety significantly influence consumers' online purchasing behaviors in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study emphasizes the need for a comprehensive understanding of online consumer factors and their implications for e-commerce vendors, suggesting the inclusion of marketing professionals in marketing strategy formulation.

The effect of trust and social presence on consumer purchase interest in B2C e-commerce in Indonesia

This study aims to examine the impact of social presence and trust dimensions, including integrity, predictability, capability, and benevolence, on consumer purchase intentions in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, with a focus on Indonesian consumers. The research employs a quantitative methodology, gathering data through validated and reliable questionnaires distributed via Google Forms to individuals who have completed transactions through e-commerce websites or applications. The data is analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS version 22 software. The findings indicate that social presence has a significant positive effect on trust dimensions, such as integrity, predictability, capability, and benevolence. In addition, consumer purchase intentions are significantly influenced by their trust in the vendor's integrity, predictability, capability, and benevolence. The study suggests that e-commerce vendors can enhance their social presence by incorporating features such as personal chat options with customer service, as well as integrating multimedia elements like images, videos, or emoticons. These efforts can help create a warmer, more engaging online environment, reflecting the vendor's capabilities and boosting consumer trust and purchase intentions.

Does Scarce Inventory Information Disclosure Strategy Promote Online Sales?

In pursuit of promoting sales, certain e-commerce vendors post scarce inventory messages on product pages to signal impending stockouts. To explore how disclosure information strategy regarding scarce inventory influences online sales, this study utilizes Chinese e-commerce data collected from February 1st to April 30th, 2023 and constructs an empirical model that delves into the relationship between the disclosure of scarce inventory information and online sales based on the signal theory. The empirical findings reveal a positive impact of scarce inventory information disclosure on online sales, with this impact being more pronounced under the moderating role of the commodity discount rate. These results hold substantial theoretical implications and offer valuable insights for practical applications in the e-commerce domain.

Boolean interpretation, matching, and ranking of natural language queries in product selection systems

E-commerce is a massive sector in the US economy, generating $767.7 billion in revenue in 2021. E-commerce sites maximize their revenue by helping customers find, examine, and purchase products. To help users easily find the most relevant products in the database for their individual needs, e-commerce sites are equipped with a product retrieval system. Many of these modern retrieval systems parse user-specified constraints or keywords embedded in a simple natural language query, which is generally easier and faster for the customer to specify their needs than navigating a product specification form, and does not require the seller to design or develop such a form. These natural language product retrieval systems, however, suffer from low relevance in retrieved products, especially for complex constraints specified on products. The reduced accuracy is in part due to under-utilizing the rich semantics of natural language, specifically queries that include Boolean operators, and lacking of the ranking on partially-matched relevant results that could be of interest to the customers. This undesirable effect costs e-commerce vendors to lose sales on their merchandise. In solving this problem, we propose a novel product retrieval system, called QuePR\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extit{QuePR}}$$\\end{document}, that parses arbitrarily simple and complex natural language queries with(out) Boolean operators, utilizes combinatorial numeric and content-based matching to extract relevant products from a database, and ranks retrieved resultant products by relevance before presenting them to the end-user. The advantages of QuePR\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extit{QuePR}}$$\\end{document} are its ability to process explicit and implicit Boolean operators in queries, handle natural language queries using similarity measures on partially-matched records, and perform best guess or match on ambiguous or incomplete queries. QuePR\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extit{QuePR}}$$\\end{document} is unique, easy to use, and scalable to all product categories. To verify the accuracy of QuePR\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extit{QuePR}}$$\\end{document} in retrieving relevant products on different product domains, we have conducted different performance analyses and compared QuePR\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extit{QuePR}}$$\\end{document} with other ranking and retrieval systems. The empirical results verify that QuePR\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\ extit{QuePR}}$$\\end{document} outperforms others while maintaining an optimal runtime speed.

Get Ready to Buy With Me: The Effect of Social Presence Interaction and Social Commerce Intention on S-commerce Live Streaming

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has forced many vendors to consider alternative marketing strategies, such as live streaming on social commerce platforms. Social commerce live streaming involves using live streamers to endorse and sell products on their own social media accounts. Statistics show that this format can serve as a survival tool for vendors in exceptional circumstances. However, it is also a valuable opportunity to bring innovation and engagement to traditional e-commerce vendors. Based on a sample of 621 Chinese consumers, this empirical research proposes that features of live streamers (expertise, attractiveness, and humor) play an essential role in social commerce intention. At the same time, virtual friendship, emotional engagement, and platform attachment are antecedents of online purchasing intentions. It also contends that social presence interaction has a moderating effect on live s-commerce and that these elements together constitute a comprehensive model of live s-commerce. Our findings reveal that virtual friendship, platform attachment, and emotional engagement with live streamers are crucial for increasing buying intentions, and they confirm the mediation effect of social commerce intention and the moderating effect of social presence interaction. The practical and theoretical implications are pointed out to assist brands, managers, retailers, and e-marketplaces in developing effective marketing plans.

Apna Store and E-commerce: Meeting Consumer Needs During COVID-19

Apna Store, a family-owned ‘kirana’ neighbourhood grocery store in suburban New Delhi, India, offers a diverse selection of 15,000 products. This case revolves around its owner, Mr Jagmohan Trehan, who faces a pivotal decision due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: whether to revamp the store’s product range and venture into e-commerce. The pandemic has dramatically altered consumer behaviour, with a surge in online grocery shopping. E-commerce vendors’ enticing promotions and the entry of Reliance Jio with a unique business model have presented opportunities and challenges to Mr Trehan and the kirana store industry, the backbone of India’s retail sector. In March 2020, the pandemic prompted panic buying and shifts in consumer preferences, compelling Apna Store to adapt during the lockdown. As online grocery shopping gained traction, the idea of entering e-commerce emerged, but with reservations. In April 2021, as India faced another pandemic wave, consumers became more comfortable with online grocery shopping, and e-commerce operators improved supply chains and delivery. This case centres on whether Apna Store should embrace e-commerce and the associated costs and benefits.

A comparison of total cost estimates between exclusive breast-feeding and breast milk substitute usage in humanitarian contexts.

Using a model-based analysis, we calculated the total costs associated with the exclusive breast-feeding (EBF) and breast milk substitute (BMS) usage for one infant for six months within select humanitarian contexts to (a) determine if there is a notable difference in costs and (b) use these results to inform future creation of data-informed humanitarian response standard operating procedures. The inputs and costing data were drawn from a mixture of local e-commerce vendors, peer-reviewed literature and personal communications with field-based humanitarian responders. To account for cost fluctuations, each input's costs along with low and high parameters are presented. All costs are presented in 2021 United States Dollars. Humanitarian responses within Indonesia and Jordan. Not applicable. There was a notable difference in the total cost of care in both selected locations across the study arms (Indonesia: $542; Jordan: $892). Given the reality of limited funding for comprehensive humanitarian response around the world and the necessity of prioritising certain interventions, humanitarian response organisations should consider the notable cost difference between EBF and BMS usage (along with the proven health benefits of EBF). This difference should play a role in informing the future creation of standard operating procedures while also ensuring that all infants within a humanitarian crisis receive appropriate feeding.

Hedonic Consumers’ Privacy in Online Shopping: A Systematic Literature Review

The article aims to provide a comprehensive examination of the extant literature on online hedonic consumers’ privacy. Further, the authors attempt to identify a gap in online hedonic consumer behaviour focusing on their privacy. The authors systematically reviewed the extant literature on online hedonic consumers and their various privacy-related issues. The discussion on ‘privacy’, ‘online shopping’, ‘hedonic consumption’ and ‘hedonic-motivation system (HMS)’ elucidated any confusion held by the researchers and readers. This review offered insight into the current status of research in this field and recognized the factor ‘privacy’ as a gap in the existing model of online hedonic consumer behaviour that could be properly explored in further scholarly empirical research. The exclusion of non-English language articles and the lack of inclusion of different kinds of hedonic products or services other than ‘online shopping’ were the limitations of this article. Managers and e-commerce vendors could utilize the findings of this review to address their hedonic consumers’ privacy for the growth of their online businesses. This review lays the groundwork to explore online hedonic consumers’ privacy in detail. To address the gaps identified through this study, the development of a new overarching model of online hedonic consumer behaviour is suggested for future researchers, which might provide a theoretical framework for scholars to further examine the effect of privacy on online hedonic consumers.

The Effect of Trust, Perceived Risk and E-Service Quality on the Intention to Purchase of E-Commerce Consumers in Indonesia

This study investigates empirically the effect of trust, perceived risk and e-service quality on the intention to purchase of online shop's customers in Indonesia. This research is a type of descriptive research with a quantitative approach. The type of data used is primary data obtained through the distribution of questionnaires. Respondents of this study were online consumers in Indonesia which were taken by accidental sampling technique as many as 333 peoples. The data analysis method used descriptive analysis and partial least square (PLS) analysis. Based on field research, the results obtained are: (1) Trust has a positive and significant effect on intention to purchase of online shop consumer; (2) Perceived risk has a positive and significant effect on intention to purchase of online shop consumers; and (3) E-service quality has a positive and significant effect on the intention to purchase of online shop consumers. The implications of the research are the importance of trust aspects, risk perception and quality of electronic services to online transactions. It is expected that e-commerce vendors can provide a comprehensive guarantee that sellers who join their vendors can be trusted, transactions made safe and comfortable and services provided quality.

E-Commerce Security and Customer’s Use of E-Commerce Platforms among Federal Government Personnel in Ibadan, Nigeria

Advancement in internet infrastructure has aided the rise of online businesses called electronic commerce (e-commerce). However, the security of e-commerce has assumed heightened dimensions in recent times as news of security threats on popular websites abounds in literature and the media. This study seeks to investigate e-commerce security and use among personnel of federal ministries and agencies in Ibadan, Oyo State and provide answers to three research questions. Survey design was adopted and data were collected using a questionnaire. The study employed stratified random sampling technique to select the ministries and agencies, while convenience sampling technique was used to select 262 respondents. Data were analysed with SPSS version 26 using descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation. The findings revealed that both the frequency of use and perception of e-commerce among personnel in federal ministries and agencies in Ibadan, Oyo State, are moderately high. There exists a significant positive relationship between e-commerce security and the use of e-commerce among personnel in federal ministries and agencies in Ibadan. Among others, it was recommended that e-commerce vendors should endeavour to take the security of their platform seriously and invest in it. Keywords: E-security, Electronic commerce, E-business, Government personnel, Online marketing Ogunsola, K. & Enwerem, P.E. (2023): E-Commerce Security and Customer’s Use of E-Commerce Platforms among Federal Government Personnel in Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Advances in Mathematical & Computational Science. Vol. 11, No. 1. Pp 27-44 dx.doi.org/10.22624/AIMS/MATHS/V11N1P3. Available online at www.isteams.net/mathematics-computationaljournal.

Increasing the intention of Gen Zers to adopt drone delivery services based on a three-step decision-making process

Generation Zers are digital natives who may be early adopters of drone delivery services for e-commerce. Therefore, e-commerce vendors must understand what causes Gen Zers to believe, desire, and intend to adopt drone delivery services. Gen Zers were surveyed regarding their decision-making processes using the DITTO research framework (Diversity, Individualism, Teamwork, Technology, and Organizational Support) and belief-desire-intention theory. A survey was conducted with 83 Gen Zers from the United States, and data was analyzed using multilinear regression analysis. Many important implications can be drawn from the analysis results. Before Gen Zers adopt drone delivery services, the “seeing is believing” moment appears to be essential, according to the analysis. Moreover, e-commerce vendors should emphasize drone delivery’s relative advantages in terms of speed and environmental protection. Based on our findings, Gen Zers are rational decision-makers when it comes to adopting drone delivery services. To motivate Gen Zers to use drone delivery services, it is imperative to help them develop the belief and increase their desire.

ONLINE HEDONIC CONSUMERS’ PRIVACY AWATENESS AND PRIVACY PARADOX: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the literature on Online Hedonic Consumers’ Privacy Paradox and Privacy Awareness. Furthermore, the authors attempt to identify a gap that can be addressed in the future by developing a comprehensive and integrated model on Online Hedonic Consumer Behaviour that focuses on their Privacy Awareness. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of the extant literature. The discussion on “Privacy”, “Privacy Paradox” and “Privacy Awareness” elucidated the differences among them, thereby helping to remove any confusions held by the researchers and readers. This review offered insight into the current status of research in this field and recognized the factor “Privacy Awareness” as a gap in the existing model on Online Hedonic Consumer Behaviour that could properly be explored in further scholarly empirical research. Managers and E-Commerce vendors could utilize the findings of this review to address their Hedonic Consumer Privacy Awareness for the growth of their online businesses. This paper lays a groundwork to explore Online Hedonic Consumer Privacy Awareness in detail. A new integrated model is suggested, which will lead to the development of a theoretical framework for researchers to further examine the mediation effect of Privacy Awareness.

Uncanny Valley Effects on Chatbot Trust, Purchase Intention, and Adoption Intention in the Context of E-Commerce: The Moderating Role of Avatar Familiarity

This study investigates the effect of chatbot humanization on the perception of eeriness, trust, and users’ behavioral intention. Specifically, this study employed a 2 (humanization of chatbot agent avatar: hyperrealistic-animated vs. cartoonish-still) × 2 (avatar familiarity: celebrity avatar vs. non-celebrity avatar) between-subjects experiment (N = 185), in which participants were asked to purchase a laptop from an e-commerce vendor by interacting with a chatbot agent. Based on predictions from the uncanny valley effect hypothesis (UVE), enhancing the human likeness of a chatbot agent through visual realism and animacy was predicted to negatively influence users’ trust in the chatbot agent and behavioral intention as a consequence of the activation of a negative affective state (i.e., a feeling of eeriness). Consistent with our predictions, the results from PLS-SEM showed that (a) enhancing the human likeness of a chatbot agent significantly increased users’ feeling of eeriness, (b) the feeling of eeriness negatively influenced users’ trust in the chatbot agent, c) trust, determined by the feeling of eeriness, significantly affected users’ purchase intention and willingness to reuse the chatbot, and d) the relationship between humanization and eeriness significantly moderated by the familiarity of the chatbot avatar. We discuss the theoretical implications of the current study on UVE as well as its practical implications for the implementation of anthropomorphized chatbot agents in the e-commerce context.

Managing enterprise social media to develop consumer trust

PurposeThis study examines the impact of social media information sharing and usage on consumer beliefs particularly in the credibility of the information provided by e-commerce vendors, and consumer trust formation.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on trust through social media usage and surface credibility, the authors have proposed a research model to investigate consumers satisfaction on food and beverage (F&B) products. Empirical support for the research model was provided by using structural equation modelling using survey data drawn from Malaysian consumers with an account with Facebook.FindingsResults indicate that consumer participation in social media communities support higher levels of consumer trust and ratings of the surface credibility of information provided by an F&B vendor, and surface credibility also helped to develop consumer trust. Trust in the vendor also exerted a positive influence on consumer satisfaction with F&B product offerings. Results suggest that F&B that provide credible and transparent information regarding their branded products, enjoy increased levels of consumer trust, leading to higher levels of consumer satisfaction with their F&B consumption experience.Originality/valueThe result of this research contributes to social commerce branch of literature and has practical implications for practitioners in the F&B industry as a means to survival strategies to embrace critical and challenging period during an endemic, particularly. As such, this study analyses the relationship between social media usage, surface credibility, trust and satisfaction for developing consumer trust while managing enterprise social media.

More Personalized, More Useful? Reinvestigating Recommendation Mechanisms in E-Commerce

ABSTRACT To what extent should firms invest in personalized recommendation mechanisms, and are all personalized recommendations equally welcomed by online consumers? To answer these questions through the lens of resource matching theory, we investigate users’ perceptions of three types of personalized recommendations: one-to-all (nonpersonalized), one-to-many (partially personalized), and one-to-one (most personalized). Using both experimental and configurational analysis approaches, our study posits that online consumers differently experience each type of personalized recommendation and their resource matching sources (familiarity, complexity, external information) in various shopping contexts. Our study abductively formulates several theoretical propositions regarding the usefulness of each personalized recommendation. We show empirical evidence that the most personalized recommendation is not always perceived to be as useful as conventionally believed. In particular, highly personalized recommendation is found to be useful for recommending simple technology products for experienced customers. Ironically, a partially personalized recommendation, one-to-many, is perceived as the most useful mechanism for recommending complicated technology products. Based on our findings, we suggest that e-commerce vendors consider the three resource matching dimensions to avoid collecting more than enough customer data, thus enabling adequately personalized recommendation results on their online digital platforms.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Reasoned-action Theories (TRA, TPB, IBM) for Explaining Low E-commerce Adoption in a Developing Country: A Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach AI trends in digital humanities research

This paper explains the process of e-commerce adoption through reasoned action theories (theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB), and integrated behavioral model (IBM)) in a developing country. Owing to a lack of precedent in the study settings, the study first validated empirical scales for measuring psychosocial drivers of behavior using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Subsequently, the study validated the aforementioned models using structural equation modeling, and also integrated sociodemographic characteristics as precursor variables in the model with the greatest predictive power. Results depicted that while TRA and TPB explain behavior well, it is IBM that is the most effective in explaining online consumer behavior, and underlined the importance of using volitional, sociodemographic, and individual-level factors (knowledge of e-commerce and environmental constraints to use e-commerce) to explain online consumer behavior. The study has numerous implications for e-commerce vendors operating in developing countries as the validated scales and models can be used to assess individual perceptions regarding e-commerce and to design effective communication strategies, respectively.

FinTech Credit and Entrepreneurial Growth

Based on automated credit lines to more than two million vendors trading on Alibaba’s online retail platform, we show how the take-up of FinTech credit varies with the entrepreneur’s bank distance. Proximity to the branches of the five largest stateowned banks correlates positively with the take-up of FinTech credit and suggests more severe credit frictions for Chinese e-commerce vendors close to such banks. We use a discontinuity in the credit decision algorithm to document that a firm’s credit approval and credit use boost a vendor’s sales and transaction growth. Entrepreneurial growth after access to FinTech credit is largest for younger e-commerce firms and in the month of first-time credit approval.

EWOM credibility: a comprehensive framework and literature review

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) credibility. Further, the authors propose a comprehensive and integrated model on eWOM credibility.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a systematic review of the extant literature on marketing, sociology and psychology to identify the factors that affect eWOM credibility. Further, the authors developed themes and identified factors which lead to eWOM credibility.FindingsFour factors were identified, i.e. content, communicator, context and consumer, which affect eWOM credibility. Several variables associated with these four factors were identified, which result in eWOM credibility. Further, the authors developed 22 propositions to explain the causal relationship between these variables and eWOM credibility.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual model needs empirical validation across various eWOM platforms, i.e. social networking websites, e-commerce websites, etc.Practical implicationsManagers and e-commerce vendors can use these inputs to develop specific design elements and assessment tools which can help consumers to identify credible eWOM messages. Credible eWOM messages, in turn, will increase the “trust” and “loyalty” of the customers on e-commerce vendors.Originality/valueThis paper provides a conclusive takeaway of eWOM credibility literature by integrating multiple perspectives and arguments from the extant literature. This study also presents an integrated model, which provides a theoretical framework for researchers to further examine the interaction effect of various variables, which results in eWOM credibility.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2020-0263

A multi-perspective lens on web assurance seals: contrasting vendors’ intended and consumers’ perceived effects

Web assurance seals are actions taken by e-commerce vendors to increase their trustworthiness and alleviate consumers’ concerns. In their essence, web assurance seals are a product of negotiations, adoptions, and settlements among various groups of interests (e.g., seal authorities, vendors, consumers, or governmental institutions). However, previous research has hitherto used a unilateral research perspective when studying web assurance seals (i.e., either consumer- or vendor-centric), which has acted as a gridlock for web assurance seal literature development. Drawing on signaling theory, we use a ranking-type Delphi study with three distinct, yet mutually supportive expert panels (N = 60) to compare vendors’ intentions to acquire web assurance seals and perceived effects by consumers. Our results uncover a mismatch between consumers’ perceptions and vendors’ intentions of web assurance seals, unintended side effects as well as vendors targeting other stakeholders than consumers, ultimately providing starting points for research to move forward.

Do bad experiences loom larger than good ones? The role of prior purchase experiences on the effectiveness of IS certifications

ABSTRACT IS certifications are important sources for customer trust building in e-commerce. However, little is known about how their effect changes between initial and repeat purchases, despite many other aspects of e-commerce are customised to focal customers’ shopping history. In this study, we investigate how prior purchase experiences with the same vendor moderate the effect of IS certifications on purchase intention via customers’ trust in a vendor. We propose a research model based on Expectation Confirmation Theory and test our hypotheses using the Factorial Survey Method with a sample of 160 participants evaluating 480 scenarios. Our results indicate that prior shopping experiences moderate IS certifications’ effect, however, depending on quality and quantity of the experiences made. Most importantly, negative experiences decrease IS certifications’ influence on trust in a vendor. Our findings facilitate more refined theory-building efforts in IS certification research and help to guide e-commerce vendors in their IS certification deployment practices.