R 2005, 'Trust in e-commerce

The Internet is still far from achieving its potential as an e-marketplace due to consumer reluctance to engage in spontaneous transactions online. According to a 2001 McKinsey & Co. research report, lack of consumer trust is a critical impediment to the success of e-commerce [3], a conclusion that’s equally valid today [8]. Consumers may fear providing credit card information to commercial Web vendors, simply because they lack enough trust to engage in business relationships involving financial transactions [7]. It follows that many customers may still not trust vendors when shopping online. Thus, it is precisely the development of exchange relationships that are central to understanding the role of trust and trust mechanisms in the context of e-commerce. Trust does not exist in a vacuum; it needs the context of a relationship to develop. Alternately, it is difficult to imagine an exchange relationship that could be developed and nurtured without trust. While a secure technical infrastructure is necessary, it is not sufficient for creating the trust necessary to generate spontaneous electronic transactions on the Internet. Reliable encryption and authentication methods are common technical approaches to alleviating this problem. Digital certificate technologies (such as eTrust, WebTrust, eCard, and Smartcard) are steps in the right direction. Secure transaction methods using encryption and other technologies have existed for some time, yet the perceived risk of Internet transactions is stil