Should new online stores invest in social presence elements? The effect of social presence on initial trust formation |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Management Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa;2. School of Management Studies, Upper Campus, Leslie Commerce Building, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa;1. Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia;2. Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul, South Korea;1. SKEMA Business School – Université de Lille, Avenue W. Brandt, 59777 Euralille, France;2. Université Catholique de Louvain, UCL 151 Chaussée de Binche, 7000 Mons, France;1. Information Technology Research Center, Yonsei University, 50 Yonseiro, Seodaemungu, Seoul, 120-749, South Korea;2. School of Business, Chosun University, 309 Pilmundaero, Donggu, Gwangju, 501-759, South Korea;3. Business School, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 207-43, Cheongyangri-dong, Dongdaemoon-gu, Seoul, 130-012, South Korea;1. Institute of Information Systems and Marketing (IISM), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany;2. University of Mannheim, Germany, Business School of the University of Mannheim, 68131 Mannheim, Germany;3. Room KK804, K.K. Leung Building, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong;4. Synchronite GmbH, Julius-Hatry-Str. 1, 68163 Mannheim, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Online shopping has become increasingly popular in business development and the number of new online stores is ever increasing. Many of these online stores, however, fail. Research has indicated that one of the biggest reasons why these online stores fail is because of consumers? lack of trust. One solution that has been proposed is for online retailers to increase their level of social presence.This study investigates the impact of social presence, in its extreme form of online chat boxes, on initial trust formation for an online retailer. An experimental design was used and a structural equation model is tested using PLS-SEM (partial least square based structural equation modeling). Social presence was found to not only influence initial trust in the website, but also participants? enjoyment and perceived usefulness of the site. Therefore even though managers might think that there is no ROI in their investment in social presence, it still has a notable impact on consumers? perception of an online retailer they have not seen or used before. This is especially relevant to new online stores. |
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| Keywords: | Social presence Online chat boxes Online trust Perceived usefulness New online retailers |
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