Online Buyer's Perspective of E-Shops Credibility: Measurement Dimensions
Abstract
Addressing the debated topic of credibility in online sales, the present study analyses buyer's perspective. The study develops from the literature to test and refine a multi-dimensional measurement of e-shops credibility. Consumer's criteria for assessing e-shops credibility are empirically examined with 817 Romanian student participants. Detailed approach and methodology, as well as the results obtained, research conclusions, limitations, and implications, are presented. The study advances an instrument which reveals new dimensions of establishing credibility although most aspects were found to be similar to results previously presented in other studies. The proposed instrument offers a new multidimensional measurement and knowledge resources for business committed to using Internet advantages, and it might be viewed as a strategic tool which enables e-shops owners to strengthen their market presence, e-sales and customer base through an adequate management of the knowledge regarding online credibility.References
Agosto, D.E. (2002a). A model of young people’s decision-making in using the Web. Library & Information Science Research, 24(4), 311–341.
Agosto, D.E. (2002b). Bounded rationality and satisficing in young people’s Web-based decision making. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(1), 16–27.
Andrei, A.G., and Zait, A. (2014a). Branding insights: an interdisciplinary journey from perception to action. In Brătianu, C., Zbuchea, A., Pinzaru, F., and Vătămănescu, E. M. (Eds.), Strategica. Management, Finance, and Ethics. (pp.593-604). Bucharest: Tritonic.
Andrei, A.G., and Zait, A. (2014b). Perceptions of warmth & competence in online networking: an experimental analysis of a company launch. Review of Economic and Business Studies, 7(1), 11-29.
Andrei, A.G., Zait, A., Vatamanescu, E.M., and Pînzaru, F. (2017). Word of mouth generation and brand communication strategy: findings from an experimental study explored with PLS-SEM. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 117(3), 478–495.
Bateman, J. (1998). Modeling changes in end-user relevance criteria: An information seeking study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of North Texas.
Bateman, J. (1999). Modeling the importance of end-user relevance criteria. In Proceedings of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science (pp.396–406). Washington, DC: ASIS.
Bolisani, E., and Bratianu, C. (2017). Knowledge strategy planning: an integrated approach to manage uncertainty, turbulence, and dynamics. Journal of Knowledge Management, 21(2), 233-253.
Brown, T.A. (2006). Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research. New York: The Guilford Press.
Ceobanu, C., and Anton, O. (2008). Information Credibility in Marketing. A Psychological Perspective. Paper presented at the Romanian Marketing Conference, Iaşi, Romania.
Ciobanu, O. (2011). Aspecte ale evaluarii credibilitatii site-urilor comerciale. Iasi: Tehnopress.
Ciobanu (Țugulea), C.-O. (2015). Studiul scalelor credibilității site-urilor comerciale: explorare și confirmare. Bucharest: ASE.
Darroch, J. (2005). Knowledge management, innovation and firm performance. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(3), 101–115.
DeCoster, J. (2004). Data Analysis in SPSS. Retrieved from http://www.stat-help.com/notes.html.
Eisend, M. (2006). Source Credibility Dimensions in Marketing Communication – A Generalized Solution. Journal of Empirical Generalisations in Marketing, 10(1), 1-33.
Fabrigar, L.R., Wegener, D.T., MacCallum, R.C., and Strahan, E.J. (1999). Evaluating the Use of Exploratory Factor Analysis in Psychological Research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272-299.
Flanagin, A.J., and Metzger, M.J. (2000). Perceptions of Internet Information Credibility. Journal of Mass Communication Quarterly, 77(3), 515-540.
Fogg, B.J., and Tseng, H. (1999). The Elements of Computer Credibility. In Proceedings of ACM CHI 99 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp.80-87). New York: ACM Press.
Fogg, B.J., Marshall, J., Laraki, O., Osipovich, A., Varma, C., Fang, N., Paul, J., Rangnekar, A., Shon, J., Swani, P., and Treinen, M. (2001). What Makes Web Sites Credible? A Report on a Large Quantitative Study. In The CHI 2001 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp.61–68). New York: ACM Press.
Fogg, B.J. (2003). Prominence-Interpretation Theory: Explaining How People Assess Credibility Online. Retrieved from https://credibility.stanford.edu/pdf/p-iTheory_Fogg_Oct02.pdf.
Ford, J.K., MacCallum, R.C., and Tait, M. (1986). The application of exploratory factor analysis in applied psychology: A critical review and analysis. Personnel Psvchology, B(2), 291-314.
Garson, D. (2010). Statnotes: Topics in Multivariate Analysis. Retrieved from http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/P A765/factor.htm.
Gefen, D., and Straub, D. (2000). The Relative Importance of Perceived Ease of Use in IS Adoption: A Study of E-Commerce Adoption. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 1(8), 1-28.
George, D., and Mallery, P. (2003). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference. 11.0 update. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Gorsuch, R.L. (1983). Factor Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Hair, J.F. Jr., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., and Black, W.C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis with readings. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Harrington, D. (2009). Confirmatory Factor Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Hatcher, L. (1994). A step-by-step approach to using the SAS system for factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.
Hong, T. (2006). The Influence of Structural and Message Features on Web Site Credibility. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(1), 114–127.
Hovland, C.I., and Weiss, W. (1951). The Influence of Source Credibility on Communication Effectiveness. Public Opinion Quarterly, 15(1), 635-650.
Hovland, C.I., Janis, I.L., and Kelley, H.H. (1953). Communication and Persuasion. New Heaven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
Hutcheson, G., and Sofroniou, N. (1999). The multivariate social scientist: Introductory statistics using generalized linear models. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Kwak, H., Fox, R.J., and Zinkhan, G.M. (2002). What Products Can be Successfully Promoted and Sold Via the Internet?. Journal of Advertising Research, 42(1), 23-38.
Lankes, R.D. (2008). Credibility on the internet: shifting from authority to reliability. Journal of Documentation, 64(5), 667-686.
Lawley, D.N., and Maxwell, A E. (1971). Factor analysis as a statistical method. London: Butterworth and Co.
Leckie, G.J. (1996). Desperately seeking citations: Uncovering faculty assumptions about the undergraduate research process. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 22(3), 201–208.
Lehmann, D.R., Gupta, S., and Steckel, J.H. (1998). Marketing Research. Boston: Addison Wesley Longman.
Liu, Z. (2004). Perceptions of credibility of scholarly information on the Web. Information Processing & Management, 40(6), 1027–1038.
Malhotra, N.K. (1996). Marketing Research. An Applied Orientation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Manolică, A., Ciobanu, O., Bobâlcă, C., and Sasu, C. (2011). A Method to Asses Credibility of Commercial Web SItes. One level to Change Consumers' Attitude and Behaviour. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Management of Technological Changes (pp.157-161). Alexandroupolis: Continuing Education and Training.
Mårtensson, M. (2000). A critical review of knowledge management as a management tool. Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(3), 204–216.
Metzger, M.J., Flanagin, A.J., and Zwarun, L. (2003). College student Web use, perceptions of information credibility, and verification behavior. Computers & Education, 41(3), 271–290.
Miyazaki, A.D., and Fernandez, A. (2001). Consumer Perceptions of Privacy and Security Risks for Online Shopping. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 35(1), 27-44.
Nunnally, J.C. (1967). Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Raubenheimer, J.E. (2004). An item selection procedure to maximize scale reliability and validity. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 30(4), 59-64.
Rieh, S.Y., and Danielson, D.R. (2007). Credibility: A multidisciplinary framework. In Cronin, B. (Ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (vol. 41, pp.307-364). Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Storey, J., and Barnett, E. (2000). Knowledge management initiatives: learning from failure. Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(2), 145–156.
Sudman, S., and Blair, E. (1998). Marketing Research. A Problem Solving Approach. Boston; McGraw-Hill.
Tucker, L., and MacCallum, R. (1997). Exploratory Factor Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.unc.edu/~rcm/boo k/factor.pdf.
Vătămănescu, E.M., Dumitriu, D.L., Andrei, A.G., and Leovaridis, C. (2015). Networking Intellectual Capital towards Competitiveness: An Insight into the European Higher Education Institutions. Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 13(2), 228-239.
Velicer, W.F., and Fava, J.L. (1998). Effects of Variable and Subject Sampling on Factor Pattern Recovery. Psychological Methods, 3(2), 231-251.
Whitmire, E. (2004). The relationship between undergraduates’ epistemological beliefs, reflective judgment, and their information-seeking behaviour. Information Processing & Management, 40(1), 97–111.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) with the condition to attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor. They may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
