Examining the drivers of individuals trust in online e-services: the role of innovation and off-line branding

Technological developments and spread of the Internet over the last decade has given consumers a variety of new electronically-enabled services (or e-services) to conduct business and given rise to a critical focus on the quality of leT mediated service. The objective of this study is to examine the influence that consumer perceptions of e-service innovation together with variables such as corporate brandWebsite congruency, and corporate brand strength have, on the development of consumer trust towards an e-retail service. In addition, the study then explores the influence consumer trust has on Website loyalty intentions towards the e-service via revisitation and word of mouth. Data were gathered via an online questionnaire, resulting in 406 responses. The results indicate that e-service innovation, brand strength and corporate brand image website image congruency have significant effects on trust, with trust influencing consumer Website revisitation and positive word of mouth. Conclusions, implications and future research directions are discussed