Online Trust Transfer of Unfamiliar Co-Branded Websites

From Information Systems at Pitt Business

The Internet contains millions of e-commerce related websites, but most of these are unfamiliar to the everyday user. The everyday online consumer has a large variety of websites that could offer a desired product or service. However, unknown websites are generally avoided due to the inherent risk of trusting an unknown other. How can unknown or new websites compete with other websites that are highly known and utilized by consumers?

This paper develops a model to explore how trust can be transferred to unfamiliar websites through co-branding with a known brand in the same or related product class. Potential consumers are able to rely upon the known brand and transfer trust to the unknown website and increase the likelihood of a purchase. This model is tested and supported with a laboratory study performed on university-aged students.

[edit] Abstract

Trust is a crucial factor in e-commerce. However, consumers are less likely to trust unknown websites. This study explores how less-familiar e-commerce websites can use branding alliances and website quality to increase the likelihood of initial consumer trust. We use the associative network model of memory to explain brand knowledge and to show how the mere exposure effect can be leveraged to improve a website's brand image. We also extend information integration theory to explain how branding alliances are able to increase initial trust and transfer positive effects to websites. Testing of our model shows that the most important constructs for increasing initial trust in our experimental context are branding and website quality. Finally, we discuss future research ideas, limitations, implications, and ideas for practitioners.

[edit] Paper Information

Authors: Paul B. Lowry, Anthony Vance, Greg Moody, Bryan Beckman, Aaron Read

To read more check out the paper on the SSRN article page

This article was originally published in JMIS, Vol 24, No. 3, Winter 2007.

[edit] Keywords

Trust, Internet, brand image, brand awareness, branding alliance, e-commerce, associative network model of memory, familiarity, information integration theory