The role of perceived risk and consumer trust in relation to on-line shopping and security

The growth and expansion of the Internet and the World Wide Web continues to impact society in new and amazing ways. What began as an informational tool for universities has exploded into a "human social phenomenon" (Denning and Denning, 1998). The role of economic commerce has not been as dynamic as some predicted, but has still demonstrated remarkable success and tremendous potential (Burke, 1997). Any failure to meet some of the expectations may be explained in large part by questions and concerns surrounding existing methods of electronic commerce and of the Internet itself. A key negative perception centers on the security involved in Internet practice and electronic payment systems. The lack of an effective and trusted payment system that can be used in conjunction with on-line shopping has been a limiting factor in the growth of Internet sales (Shon and Swatman, 1998). Consumers are hesitant to provide personal information, including credit card details, over the Internet because of high perceptions of risk and concerns with privacy (Aldridge, White, & Forcht, 1997; Culnan and Armstrong, 1999). Negative perceptions are then compounded and reinforced by massive media exposure of Internet security incidents (Jones and Vijayasarathy, 1998). From a lack of positive experiences and negative perceptions, many consumers still lack the necessary trust in on-line merchants and Internet security procedures and continue to use the Web to simply browse (Pitkow and Kehoe, 1996; Wintrob, 1995; Booker, 1995).; This paper provides an overview of electronic commerce and the impact of risk and trust on on-line shopping consumer behavior. Due to the growth and potential of on-line shopping and the lack of academic-based research on Internet-related consumer behavior (Lewis, 1995; Rao, 1996), there is a tremendous need for impartial, academic investigation into the behavior and perceptions of on-line consumers. The present study collected data on the perceptions of risk and trust in relation to perceived risk, on-line merchants and Internet security technology from a student sample at a large southeastern university. The data were then analyzed using descriptives and parametric analyses.