Week 1 – DQ 2

Week 1 – DQ 2:  Saturday, May 15, 2010:  According to Zhang, Prybutok, Ryan, and Pavur (2009), what are three factors to consider for building trust within a company’s target audience? How are these factors relevant to website planning?

The study by Zhang, Prybutok, Ryan, and Pavur (2009) studied eight different hypothesis regarding trust and consumer behaviors connected to web site activity.  Some consideration was also given to differences between male/female behaviors.  Because e-commerce is a relatively new business strategy, there is much to learn regarding how consumers respond to business sites.  According to the article, the study looked at consumer trust in relation to a web's design, specifically: "perceived quality of presentation, perceived ease of navigation, and several user attributes: prior internet experience, Web users' self efficacy, and gender differences"(Zhang, et al, 2009).

  

Many researchers, as well as consumers and businesses in general, appreciate that it is lack of trust that inhibits the  Business-to-Consumer (B2C) environment.  Researcher Kyung Kyu Kim states that a "possible reason for the delayed acceptance of the Internet as a retail distribution channel may be the lack of trust consumers have in the electronic channel and in the Web merchants"(2004).  In other words, there are two factors affecting consumer trust:  first is the medium of transaction (Internet), and the second is the business providing the goods or services.

The first factor affecting trust--the electronic medium for business transactions--is based in part on foundations outside of a business' control.  Prior Internet experiences and Internet self-efficacy are two of the important foundations of trust that individual consumers bring to the e-commerce experience.  Consumers who have had negative experiences are less likely to trust other e-commerce transactions.  A consumer's self-efficacy in Internet usage--how comfortable they are with using technology--is another foundational aspect of consumer trust that is also out of the control of a business.  However, by carefully considering web site developments, a business can help establish it's own relationship of trust with a consumer.

Three factors that web developers can use to motivate positive consumer experience are:

1).  Perceived Presentation Quality and Trust: high quality content, well organized information, combined with ease of navigation, are conducive to establishing trust between the consumer and business.

2).  Presentation Quality is broadly determined by

    (a) where information is located,

    (b) how graphics are used,

    (c) what elements on the site are distracting (McClure, Wyman, Beachboard, & Eschenfelder, 1997).

3). According to this study, knowledge of targeted audience's internet self-efficiacy and gender.

    (a) Consumers who are Internet/technology savvy are more open to trust than those who are inexperienced.

    (b) Females are more concerned with perceived quality of presentation, while males consider perceived ease of navigation more important.

A business should view their website from varying lenses.  First, it is the portal by which consumers become familiar with how the company presents itself.  When designing a web site, a business needs to unify the site's physical presentation to it's corporate identity.  Additionally, consumers experience not only a business' products and services, but the way in which it conducts business. Consumers choose to spend their money with businesses that anticipate, prepare for, and fulfill the consumer's expectations and needs.  According to Zhang, et al: "Web designers must take care in the presentation of the information on the home page to entice the user to continue further into the Website, and to feel comfortable sharing personal information, making purchases, and acting on Web vendor advice."

References:

Kyung Kyu Kim; Bipin, P. (n.d). Initial Trust and the Adoption of B2C e-Commerce: The Case of Internet Banking. Database for Advances in Information Systems, 35(2), 50. Retrieved from ProQuest: ProQuest Computing database.

McClure, C. R., Wyman, S. K., Beachboard, J. B., & Eschenfelder, K. R. (1997). Developing system-based and user-based criteria for assessing federal websites. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 34, 78-88.

Zhang, X., Prybutok, V R, Ryan, S., & Pavur, R. (April-June 2009). A model of the relationship among consumer trust, Web design and user attributes.  Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 21, 2. p.44(23). Retrieved May 11, 2010, from General OneFile via Gale:http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/gps/start.do?prodId=IPS&userGroupName=uphoenix

Debra Contreras: 
"As you meet your brain, you will realize your infinite value, and become an 'artist of life.'
 Then you can create new values, a new culture, and a new world." Ilchi Lee   
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