Abstract
Through experimentation, we establish a causal relationship between trust and the expansion of a retailer from online to brick-and-mortar and vice versa. Trust is multidimensional and contingent on the distribution path first chosen. Vendor trustworthiness (knowledge-based) and technological trustworthiness (institution-based) have different effects depending on the initial and new distribution channel. Expanding from brick-and-mortar to online negatively affects technology-based trust, while transfers from an online to a physical location maintain the same level of technology-based trust. Vendor-based trust is positively affected by transfer from online to the brick-and-mortar location, and is not significantly unaffected by transfers from brick and-mortar to online locations. The perceived “permanence” of a physical location influences consumer beliefs about the location’s trustworthiness.
Recommended Citation
Wingreen, Stephen C.; Baglione, Stephen L.; and Storholm, Gordon R., "Transfer of electronic commerce trust between brick-and-mortar and online business environments" (2012). ACIS 2012 Proceedings. 33.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2012/33