Abstract
This study enhances the existing literature on online trust by integrating the consumers’ product evaluations model and technology adoption model in e-commerce environments. In this study, we investigate how perceived value influences the perceptions of online trust among online buyers and their willingness to repurchase from the same website. This study proposes a research model that compares the relative importance of perceived value and online trust to perceived usefulness in influencing consumers’ repurchase intention. The proposed model is tested using data collected from online consumers of e-commerce. The findings show that although trust and e-commerce adoption components are critical in influencing repurchase intention, product evaluation factors are also important in determining repurchase intention. Perceived quality is influenced by the perceptions of competitive price and website reputation, which in turn influences perceived value; and perceived value, website reputation, and perceived risk influence online trust, which in turn influence repurchase intention. The findings also indicate that the effect of perceived usefulness on repurchase intention is not significant whereas perceived value and online trust are the major determinants of repurchase intention. Major theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
1. Introduction
E-commerce websites are not only tools to support a business transaction, but also companies’ channels to interact and communicate with their consumers (Al-Natour, Benbasat, & Cenfetelli, 2011). According to Gartner (2015), online consumers’ expectations are continuing to increase in the last past years. These heightened consumer expectations have increased the complexity of online systems that businesses need to operate. In order to retain their consumers, online businesses need to redefine strategies to meet consumers’ expectations and win their trust. Considering that it costs more time and effort to acquire new consumers than to retain existing one, it is crucial for online businesses to gain and sustain consumer loyalty in e-commerce markets (Harris and Goode, 2004; Hung, Cheng, & Chen, 2012; Zhang et al., 2011).
7. Conclusions
This study augments the existing literature on online trust by integrating the product evaluations model and technology adoption model. This study argues that repurchase intention in the context of ecommerce can be better understood by assessing the relationships between perceived quality, perceived value elements, and trust in ecommerce. The findings indicate that the effect of perceived usefulness on repurchase intention is diminished by the effect of perceived value, online trust, and perceived risk. In sum, this study sheds light on how online buyer-seller relationships can be strengthened by considering the perceptions of product quality as well as product value to increase trust perceptions of online buyers.
