Trust and perceived risk in consumer behaviour: a preliminary study in electronic commerce

The digital world has come to challenge companies, approaching everyone everywhere. Challenges that extend to all levels, not only economic, but also at a relational level, since the relationships themselves, and the way in which people relate and behave, have also undergone modifications. Its indefinite nature, among the news about the various unlawfulness that have occurred in the digital medium, make the online consumer develop a certain prudence in the use of this medium, especially in regard to their trust in it. Thus, it is clear the need for companies operating in this medium, in addition to addressing new business models and take advantage of the great benefits offered by this new digital era, including in their strategies the needs and expectations of their customers, achieving what build a reliable image. Taking into account the above, this paper seeks to understand the role of trust in the online environment in Portugal and technological information for users. In particular, a conceptual model, to be empirically tested, will be proposed and analysed. The authors suggest the relationship between different variables in the online context (i.e. trust, perceived risk, perceived usefulness, ease of use and purchase intention). From the analysis of these data it was possible to conclude that perceived risk and perceived ease of use presented a strong relationship with trust. Regarding the purchase intention, the variables that showed the greatest influence were perceived risk, perceived ease of use and trust. In an interdisciplinary perspective, the present manuscript presents contributions to the area of electronic marketing, relational marketing and consumer behaviour. In the end, some conclusions and next lines of research will be presented.