American and Taiwanese Perceptions Concerning Privacy, Trust, and Behavioral Intentions in Electronic Commerce

Abstract

Although the World Wide Web has opened the door for businesses and consumers across the globe, many issues and challenges remain in order to take full advantage of this unprecedented opportunity. More specifically, businesses engaged in electronic commerce can take advantage of current technologies that allow them to collect vast amounts of information about their customers. Although many companies use this information to tailor products and services to improve their relationship with their customers, many people simply do not trust most organizations that require the exchange of personal information. Recent studies suggest that many people either decline to provide this information over the Internet or simply provide false information. As electronic commerce companies extend their reach globally, the issues concerning privacy and trust must be extended beyond a single national culture. This study proposes and tests a Privacy-Trust-Behavioral Intention Model from a global perspective. More specifically, this study compares American and Taiwanese perceptions concerning online privacy and how it relates to the level of trust with a company’s electronic commerce web site. In turn, the model suggests that trust is an important intermediary variable that influences behavioral intentions for online transactions.

Privacy concern and online personalization: The moderating effects of information control and compensation

“…For example, Luo [38] draws from the work of Zucker [68] to propose three mechanisms for generating online trust: character-based trust (based on defining characteristics), process-based trust (based on past exchanges or future expectations) and institution-based trust (tied to formal societal structures). Liu et al [34] suggest that trust may be internalized as a personality trait based on previous experiences [4] or a belief that one party respects the intentions, actions and integrity of another party during an online transaction [28]. Consistent with these studies and Doney and Cannon [14], the present study operationalizes trust as a generalized belief in the benevolence and competency of online firms with regard to the usage and safeguarding of personal information.…”

Would Regulation of Web Site Privacy Policy Statements Increase Consumer Trust?

“…The assumption that individuals differ in terms of their trust in e-commerce is supported by studies demonstrating individual differences with respect to gender (Kolsaker & Payne, 2002), amount of experience with the Internet (Corbitt, Thanasankit, & Han, 2003;Miyazaki & Fernandez, 2001), and cultural background (Jarvenpaa et al 1999;Liu et al, 2004). In an attempt to examine the extent of individual differences, Sheehan (2002) developed a four category typology based on concerns about submitting personal information to web sites.…”

“…A variety of models on consumer trust in e-commerce have recently been proposed (Jarvenpaa, et al, 1999;Lee & Turban, 2001;Limayem, Khalifa, & Frini, 2000;Liu, Marchewka, & Ku, 2004;McKnight & Chervany, 2001;Suh & Han, 2003;Tan & Thoen, 2001). For the most part, these models share a number of common elements.…”

Would Regulation of Web Site Privacy Policy Statements Increase Consumer Trust?

“…To this end, web merchants have employed a variety of security mechanisms to increase their perceived trustworthiness. These methods include seals of approval or third party certifications, quality and normalcy of web site design, ratings or customer testimonials, endorsements by reference groups, and money-back guarantees (Ba & Pavlou, 2002;Corbitt et al 2003;Grewal et al 2003;Lee & Turban, 2001;Liu et al 2004;Pennington et al 2003;Ranganathan & Ganapathy, 2002;Suh & Han, 2003;Tan, 1999).…”

“…Web merchants may use biographical information to profile customers, target future communications for marketing purposes, and customize web pages for individual customers. Web sites may also use biographical information to market their site to advertisers by providing detailed information on visitors to their web site (Liu et al, 2004). Because consumers are concerned that personal information may be sold to third parties, most individuals (over 90 %) have refused to provide biographical information to a web site on at least one occasion and many (approximately 40%) admitted in some instances to providing false information (Hoffman et al 1999).…”