Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2006-07
Trustmarks,Objective-Source Ratings,and Implied Investments in Advertising: Investigating Online Trust and the Context-Specific Nature of Internet Signals
The purpose of this study is to provide a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of Internet marketers'various attempts to develop consumer trust through Web signals. The work is an exploration of the context-specific nature of trust in e-commerce. An online experiment compares three potential signals of trust in an Internet retail firm: (1) a third-party certification (i.e., a “trustmark”), (2) an objective-source rating (i.e., a review from Consumer Reports magazine), and (3) an implication of investment in advertising (i.e., a television advertisement to air during the Super Bowl). The trustmark had the greatest effect on perceived trustworthiness, influencing respondents' beliefs about security and privacy, general beliefs about firm trustworthiness, and willingness to provide personal information. The relationship between Internet experience and trust was in the form of an inverted U.
Aiken, Kirk Damon.1999.“Explorationsin InterpersonalTrust Development: The Trust Curve.” In Enhancing Knowledge Development in Marketing, Vol. 10. Eds. Stephen P. Brown and D. Subharshan. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 59-67.
2.
Aiken, Kirk Damon, Greg Osland, Ben Liu, and Robert Mackoy. 2003. “Developing Internet Consumer Trust: Exploring Trustmarks as Third-Party Signals.” In Marketing Theory and Applications, Vol. 14. Eds. Geraldine R. Henderson and Marian Chapman Moore. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 145-146.
3.
Aiken, Leona S. and Stephen G. West. 1991. MultipleRegression:Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
Bagwell, Kyle and Michael H. Riordan. 1991. “High and Declining Prices Signal Product Quality.”American Economic Review81 (March): 224-239.
5.
Benassi, Paola. 1999. “TRUSTe: An Online Privacy Seal Program.”Communicationsof the Associationfor Computing Machinery42 (2): 56-59.
6.
Bergen, Mark, Shantanu Dutta, and Orville C. Walker. 1992. “Agency Relationships in Marketing: A Review of the Implications and Applications of Agency and Related Theories.”Journal of Marketing56 (July): 1-24.
7.
Berlyne, D. E.1960. Conflict, Arousal, and Curiosity.NewYork: McGraw-Hill.
8.
Bettman, James. 1979. An Information Processing Theory of Consumer Choice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
9.
Boulding, William and Amna Kirmani. 1993. “A Consumer-Side Experimental Examination of Signaling Theory: Do Consumers Perceive Warranties as Signals of Quality?”Journal of Consumer Research20 (June): 111-123.
10.
Boush, David M., Chung-Hyun Kim, Lynn R. Kahle, and Rajeev Batra. 1993.“Cynicism and Conformityas Correlates of Trust in ProductInformation Sources.”Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising15 (2): 71-79.
11.
Burke, Raymond R.2002. “Technology and the Customer Interface: What Consumers Want in the Physical and Virtual Store.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science30 (Fall): 411-432.
12.
Business 2.0. 2001. “Internet at a Glance.” March 6, p. 102-102.
13.
Chu, Wujin. 1992.“DemandSignalingand Screeningin Channels of Distribution.”Marketing Science11 (Fall): 327-347.
14.
Chu, Wujin and Woosik Chu. 1994. “Signaling Quality by Selling Through a Reputable Retailer: An Example of Renting the Reputation of Another Agent.”Marketing Science13 (Spring): 177-189.
15.
Conchar, Margaret and George M. Zinkhan. 2002. “Market Valuation ModelsoftheEffect ofAdvertisingandPromotionalSpending:A Review and Meta-Analysis.” Paper presented at “Measuring Marketing Productivity: Linking Marketing to Financial Returns, ”October 4, Marketing Science Institute, Dallas.
16.
Conchar, Margaret and George M. Zinkhan, and Charles D. Bodkin. 2003. “Announcements of New Advertising Campaigns: Signals to Stock Market Investors.” In Advances in Marketing Pedagogy, Philosophy and Process. Eds. William J. Kehoe and Linda K. Whitten. Charlottesville, VA: Society for Marketing Advances, 22-23.
17.
Cook, Colleen, Fred Heath, and Russel Thompson. 2000. “A Meta-Analysis of Response Rates in Web or Internet-Based Surveys.”EducationalandPsychologicalMeasurement60(December):821-836.
18.
Dawar, Niraj and Miklos Sarvary. 1997. “The Signaling Impact of Low IntroductoryPrice onPerceived QualityandTrial.”MarketingLetters8 (3): 251-259.
19.
Doney, Patricia and Joseph P. Cannon. 1997. “An Examination of the Nature of Trust in Buyer-Seller Relationships.”Journal of Marketing61 (April): 35-51.
20.
Dwyer, Robert F., Paul H. Schurr, and Sejo Oh.1987. “Developing Buyer-SellerRelationships.”Journalof Marketing51(April):11-27.
21.
Fombrun, Charles J.1996. Reputation: Reading Value From the Corporate Image. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
22.
Friestad, Marian and Peter Wright. 1994. “The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope With Persuasion Attempts.”Journal of Consumer Research21 (June): 1-31.
23.
Ganesan, Shankar. 1994. “Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships.”Journal of Marketing58 (April): 1-19.
24.
Geissler, Gary, George Zinkhan, and Richard T. Watson. 2001. “Web Home Page Complexity and Communication Effectiveness.”Journal of the Association for Information Systems2 (April): 1-46.
25.
Gerstner, Eitan. 1985. “Do Higher Prices Signal Higher Quality?”Journal of Marketing Research22 (May): 209-215.
26.
Glazer, Rashi. 1991. “Marketing in an Information-Intensive Environment: Strategic Implications of Knowledge as an Asset.”Journal of Marketing55 (October): 1-19.
27.
Grabner-Kraeuter, Sonja. 2002. “The Role of Consumers' Trust in Online-Shopping.”Journal of Business Ethics39 (1-2): 43-50.
28.
GVU Center. 1998. Graphic, Visualization, & Usability Center's (GVU) 10th WWW User Survey. Atlanta, GA: GVU Center. Retrieved from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-10/
29.
Handy, Charles. 1995. “Trust and the Virtual Organization.”Harvard Business Review73 (May-June): 40-50.
30.
Harrison, Allison W. and R. Kelly Rainer. 1992. “An Examination of the Factor Structures and Concurrent Validities for the Computer Attitude Scale, the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale, and the Computer Self-Efficacy Scale.”Educational and Psychological Measurement52:735-745.
31.
Hine, Christine and Juliet Eve. 1998. “Privacy in the Marketplace.”The Information Society14 (4): 253-262.
32.
Hoffman, Donna and Thomas Novak. 1998. “Trustbuilders vs. Trustbusters.”The Industry Standard, May 11. Retrieved from http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,235,00.html
33.
Hoffman, Donna and Thomas Novak, and Marcos Peralta. 1999. “Building Consumer Trust Online.”Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery42 (4): 80-85.
34.
Ippolito, Pauline M.1990. “Bonding and Nonbonding Signals of Product Quality.”Journal of Business63 (1): 41-60.
35.
Jarvenpaa, Sirkka L. and Noam Tractinsky. 1999.“ConsumerTrust in and Internet Store: A Cross-Cultural Validation.”Journal of Computer-Mediated Communications15 (2): 1-35.
36.
Kelley, Craig A.1988. “An Investigation of Consumer Product Warranties as Market Signals of ProductReliability.”Journalof the Academy of Marketing Science16 (2): 72-78.
37.
Kihlstrom, Richard E. and Michael H. Riordan. 1984. “Advertising as a Signal.”Journal of Political Economy92 (31): 427-450.
38.
Kirmani, Amna. 1990. “The Effect of Perceived Advertising Costs on Brand Perceptions.”Journal of Consumer Research17 (September): 160-171.
39.
Kirmani, Amna. 1997. “Advertising Repetition as a Signal of Quality: If It's Advertised So Often, Something Must Be Wrong.”Journal of Advertising26 (3): 77-86.
40.
Kirmani, Amna and Akshay R. Rao. 2000. “No Pain, No Gain: A Critical Review of the Literature on Signaling Unobservable Product Quality.”Journal of Marketing64 (April): 66-79.
41.
Kirmani, Amna and Peter Wright. 1989. “Money Talks: Perceived Advertising Expense and Expected Product Quality.”Journal of Consumer Research16 (December): 344-353.
42.
Levy, Haim and Esther Lazarovich-Porat. 1995. “Signaling Theory and Risk Perception: An Experimental Study.”Journal of Economics and Business47:39-56.
43.
Lewis, David J. and Andrew Weigert. 1985. “Trust as a Social Reality.”Social Forces63 (4): 967-985.
44.
McAllister, D. J.1995. “Affect and Cognition-Based Trust as Foundations for Interpersonal Cooperation in Organizations.”Academy of Management Journal38 (1): 24-59.
45.
McKnight, Harrison D. and Norman L. Chervany. 2002. “What Trust Means in E-Commerce Customer Relationships: An Interdisciplinary Conceptual Typology.”International Journal of Electronic Commerce6 (2): 35-59.
46.
Milliman, Ronald E. and Douglas L. Fugate. 1988. “Using Trust Transference as a Persuasion Technique: An Empirical Field Investigation.”Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management8 (August): 1-7.
47.
Milne, George R. and Eugenia Boza. 1999. “Trust and Concern in Consumers' Perceptions of Marketing Information Management Practices.”Journal of Interactive Marketing13 (1): 5-24.
48.
Mishra, Debi Prasad, Jan B. Heide, and Stanton G. Cort. 1998. “Information Asymmetry and Levels of Agency Relationships: Theory and Empirical Evidence.”Journal of Marketing Research35 (August): 277-295.
49.
Moorman, Christine, Gerald Zaltman, and Rohit Deshpandé. 1992. “Relationships Between Providers and Users of Market Research: The Dynamics of Trust Within and Between Organizations.”Journal of Marketing Research29 (August): 314-329.
50.
Newell, Allen and Herbert A. Simon. 1972. Human Problem Solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
51.
Parasuraman, A. and George M. Zinkhan. 2002. “Marketing to and Serving Customers Through the Internet: An Overview and Research Agenda.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science30 (Fall): 286-295.
52.
Rao, Akshay R. and Kent B. Monroe. 1996. “Causes and Consequences of Price Premiums.”Journal of Business64 (October): 511-536. [.arrowhorizex][.arrowhorizex]
53.
Rao, Akshay R., Lu Qu, and Robert W. Ruekert. 1999. “Signaling Unobservable Quality Through a Brand Ally.”Journal of Marketing Research36 (May): 258-268.
54.
Reibstein, David J.2002. “What Attracts Customers to Online Stores, and What Keeps Them Coming Back.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science30 (Fall): 465-473.
55.
Russell, T. Thomas and W. Ronald Lane. 2002. Kleppner's Advertising Procedure. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
56.
Rust, Roland T., P. K. Kannan, and Na Peng. 2002. “The Customer Economics of Internet Privacy.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science30 (4): 455-464.
57.
Sawyer, Alan G. and J. Paul Peter. 1983. “The Significance of Statistical Significance Tests in Marketing Research.”Journal of Marketing Research20 (May): 122-133.
58.
Schurr, Paul H. and Julie L. Ozanne. 1985. “Influences on Exchange Processes: Buyers'Preconceptionsof a Seller's Trustworthinessand BargainingToughness.”Journalof Consumer Research11 (March):939-953.
59.
Shankar, Venkatesh, Glen L. Urban, and Fareena Sultan. 2002. “Online Trust: A Stakeholder Perspective, Concepts, Implications, and Future Directions.”Journal of Strategic Information Systems11:325-344.
60.
Sheehan, Kim Bartel and Mariea Grubbs Hoy. 2000. “Dimensions of Privacy Concern Among Online Consumers.”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing19 (1): 62-73.
61.
Sheehan, Kim Bartel and Sally McMillan. 1999. “Response Variation in E-Mail Surveys: An Exploration.”Journal of Advertising Research39 (July): 45-54.
62.
Smith, J. Brock and Donald W. Barclay. 1997. “The Effects of Organizational Differences and Trust on the Effectiveness of Selling Partner Relationships.”Journal of Marketing61 (January): 3-21.
Swan, J. E., M. R. Bowers, and L. D. Richardson. 1999. “Customer Trust in the Salesperson: An Integrative Review and Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature.”Journal of Business Research44 (2): 93-107.
65.
U.S. Census Bureau.2003. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 120th edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce News. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/current.html (accessed January 29, 2003).
66.
Wiener, Joshua L.1985.“Are Warranties Accurate Signals of ProductReliability?”Journalof ConsumerResearch12(September):245-250.
67.
Williamson, Oliver E.1993. “Calculativeness, Trust, and Economic Organization.”Journal of Law and Economics36 (April): 487-500.
68.
Zinkhan, George M. and Claude R. Martin1983. “Two Copy Testing Techniques: The Cloze Procedure and the Cognitive Complexity Test.”Journal of Business Research11 (2): 217-228.
