Consumer trust in the Web

Trust is a crucial aspect of the consumer-market relationship (Dwyer, Scurr and Oh, 1987). According to & Riegelsberger, Sasse & McCarthy (2005) the basic model of trust is only needed in circumstances characterised by risk and

uncertainty. Risk and uncertainty arise from a lack of information regarding the other actor’s abilities and reasoning (Deutsch, 1958). In eCommerce positive customer views on websites can be seen as symptomatic of reliability and good service, demonstrating how the Web facilitates the formation of trust.

Riegelsberger, Sasse & McCarthy (2005) describe how online vendors indicate that they are looking to not only attract potential customers but to ensure that business is continued with them afterwards. The appearance of websites as professional has also been acknowledged as a key indicator of trustworthiness (Egger, 2001; Fogg, 2003; Nielsen et al., 2001; Riegelsberger et al., 2001;

Schneiderman, 2000).

Riegelsberger et al. (2001) found that reputation is a major consideration when deciding whether or not to purchase online. In their interviews, participants stated that they responded to their friends’ and families’ recommendations and experiences with online sellers (Riegelsberger et al., 2001). In addition, media coverage or consumer reports were also influential. It should be noted that this study claimed that from a consumer perspective, reputation was not treated as an incentive for trustworthiness, rather as information about the competence or integrity of the vendor. However, acquiring or maintaining a positive reputation provides impetus to the vendor to act trustworthily (ibid).

Offline signifiers have also been identified by researchers as influential on trust (Egger, 2001; Schneiderman, 2000; Riegelsberger et al., 2001), for example

‘real-world’ addresses and/ or contact telephone numbers, suggesting that the Web amalgamated into everyday life is important to consumers. Riegelsberger, Sasse & McCarthy (2005) point out offline locations can highlight that the vendor is in a jurisdiction with different regulations (e.g. consumer protection laws). This can be interpreted as an indicator of trust or a reason to distrust depending on the situation.

Drivers and the role of online trust differ between different websites and consumers. Bart et al. (2005) claim that trust drivers and behavioural intent differ significantly between consumer groups and different websites and the

products they sell. For websites that involve high information risk and involvement such as travel sites, privacy and order fulfilment are the most influential determinants of trust (ibid). For information intensive sites such as sports or community sites, navigation is highly significant. For categories of websites that incur high involvement like automobile and financial service sites, brand strength is imperative, whilst advice is critical in the search for categories with high financial stakes such as expensive electrical items (ibid).

Online trust partially conciliates the relationship between website, consumer characteristics and behavioural intent and it is for costly, infrequent purchases that this conciliation is strongest. Conversely it is weakest for sites that elicit frequent use. The suggestion is that the influence of different drivers on online trust is generally the same for most consumers; however, there is a marked distinction for consumers for whom brand strength and advice are the most important determinants of online trust. People with higher levels of education are more influenced by brand names more than people with lower levels of education (ibid). Though the authors do not expand on whether there is a correlation with income and education for their participants, which may have a socio-economic impact on purchase decision-making.

Turning to consumer’s trust of online pharmacies a study by Banks et al.

(2009) has produced some useful indicators regarding the risks associated with purchasing medicine online without prescription. The study found that most respondents, when asked to rate the risk of certain behaviours on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all risky; 7 = very risky), rated taking prescription medicine without a prescription as very risky. However, many of the

participants were unaware of the correct classification of common medications.

The aesthetics of the website were important as respondents said that when purchasing prescription only medicine without a prescription they would use a search engine and select the most professional-looking site. However, 74%

reported that the possibility of medicine being counterfeit would have a severely negative impact on their likelihood of purchasing without a prescription (ibid).

It is interesting to note that health-related risks (quality of the medicine and prescription requirement) appear to rank lower in consumers’ perception than security issues. Gurau’s interviewees reported being worried by lack of a licence on the part of the pharmacy (31%), privacy issues (27%), security of

online payment (26%), additional charges, drug quality and superficial

prescription (Gurau, 2005). In Fox’s (2004) survey, meanwhile, 68% agreed that online purchasing makes it too easy to obtain drugs illegally.

In a study investigating consumer’s trust in online prescription medicine information it was held that the trust in medicine information from traditional media sources such as television and newspapers extends to the Web (Menon et al., 2008). The same study also found that there is a greater trust in online prescription medicine information after the consumer has been exposed to advertising. However, Menon et al. (2008) determined that there were no significant socio-demographic differences related to trust of prescription medicine information online. This finding is contrary to previous studies that found socio-demographic distinctions in access, use and trust of health information on the Web (Brodie et al., 2000). Instead self-reported health status was significant, with consumers who presented a positive self-health status more inclined to trust online health information, whilst consumers who were more unwell preferred to depend on information administered by a healthcare professional. However, there are limitations to this study, with secondary historic survey data used, which did not allow for respondents level of web access and the possibility of biased measurement.

Fittler et al. (2013) surveyed patients regarding online medicine purchasing and found that patients are not fully aware of the risks of potential dangers associated with purchasing medicine online. The implication is that patients are unable to differentiate between legal and illegal online pharmacies.

However, this is only a presumption as the survey did not directly ask respondents to make this distinction; also the survey was administered to Hungarian hospital patients and so the findings are not generalisable to the wider online medicine purchasing community.

This investigation on trust has highlighted how it has been recognised within academic literature as an important factor in online purchasing and decision-making. Previous studies have suggested that trust has been used to mitigate potential risks.

The challenges and risks associated with online medicine purchasing become more prevalent when the action is illegitimate or illegal. The illegal

pharmaceutical trade is more likely to be dealing in counterfeit medicines, and

acting outside of governance, being involved in or supporting criminal activity, and operating outside of healthcare expertise and risking safety, are all

heightened when illegitimate or illegal sites are involved.