2005:097 SHU MASTER'S THESIS Effective User Interface Design for Consumer Trust Two Case Studies XILING ZHOU XIANGCHUN LIU Luleå University of Technology MSc Programme in Electronic Commerce Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences Division of Industrial marketing and e-commerce 2005:097 SHU - ISSN: 1404-5508 - ISRN: LTU-SHU-EX--05/097--SE Luleå University of Technology E-Commerce ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis is the result of half a year of work whereby we have been accompanied and supported by many people. It is a pleasant aspect that we could have this opportunity to express our gratitude to all of them. First, we are deeply indebted to our supervisor Prof. Lennart Persson who is from Division of Industrial Marketing at LTU. He helped us with stimulating suggestions and encouragement in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. Without his never-ending support during this process, we could not have done this thesis. Especially, we would like to express our gratitude to all of participants, who have spent their valuable time to response the interview questions and discuss with us. Finally, we would like to thank our family and friends. I, Zhou Xiling am very grateful for everyone who gave me support and encouragement during this process. Especially I felt a deep sense of gratitude to my father and mother who formed part of my vision and taught me the good things that really matter in the life. I also want to thank my friend Tang Yu for his never-ending support and good advices. I, Liu XiangChun am very grateful for my parents, for their endless love and support. In particular, I also would like to express my deeply gratitude to my boyfriend, for his love and understanding during this hard work. Furthermore, I would like to thank for Xiling´s hard work for our thesis and I enjoyed the process of our cooperation. Xiling Zhou & XiangChun Liu April 3, 2005 Luleå, Sweden Luleå University of Technology E-Commerce ABSTRACT Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce is expected to grow up at aggressive rates in future years. Since e-commerce stretches interactions over space and time, and thus requires more trust than traditional shopping. So, as one of the most important factors that is slowing down this growth is the lack of trust of potential customers. Therefore, Developing customers’ initial trust in e-businesses is critical for many online vendors, especially for startup companies.The purpose of this paper is to investigate how interface design can help to build initial trust in B2C e-commerce sites based on the antecedents of trust from past studies. We found a strong relationship between interface quality and trust. As well as we identified cues in the user interface that help to build trust to some extent , and some cues that have a great potential for destroying trust. Luleå University of Technology E-Commerce TABLE OF CONTNETS 1 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH PROBLEM……………….1 1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………..1 1.2 Background…………………………………………………………………...2 1.2.1 Online Trust .............................................................................................2 1.2.2 User Interface Design …………………………………………………..4 1.3 Research Problem……………………………………………………………6 1.4 Disposition of The Thesis……………………………………………………8 2 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………...9 2.1 Trust in E-commerce: Academic Research…………………………………9 2.1.1 Types of Trust …………………………………………………………9 2.1.2 Trust Pyramid …………………………………………………………9 2.1.3 Initial Trust …………………………………………………………..11 2.1.4 User Interface Design for Consumer Trust …………………………12 2.1.5 A Model of Trust for E-commerce …………………………………...14 2.1.6 Online Trust Lose ……………………………………………………20 2.1.7 Two Type of Trust Design Guidenlines ……………………………...20 2.2 Trust in E-commerce: Industrial Report…………………………………..22 3 FRAME OF REFERENCE……………………………………….. 24 3.1 Research Questions…………………………………………………………24 3.2 Emerged Frame of Reference……………………………………………...26 4 METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………27 4.1 Research Purpose…………………………………………………………..27 4.2 Research Approach…………………………………………………………28 4.3 Research Strategy…………………………………………………………..28 4.4 Data Collection……………………………………………………………...30 4.5 Sample Selection…………………………………………………………….31 4.6 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………..32 4.7 Validity and Reliability……………………………………………………..33 4.7.1 Validity ……………………………………………………………….34 4.7.2 Reliability …………………………………………………………….34 5 DATA COLLECTION……………………………………………..35 5.1 Case One (Sweden)………………………………………………………….35 Luleå University of Technology E-Commerce 5.1.1 Sweden Bookshop ……………………………………………………..35 5.1.2 Website ……………………………………………………………….. .35 5.1.3 Swedish Respondents ……………………………………………….....36 5.2 Case Two (China)…………………………………………………………….. 38 5.2.1 TianLin Bookshop …………………………………………………….38 5.2.2 Website ……………………………………………………………….. 39 5.2.3 Chinese Respondents …………………………………………………40 6 DATA ANALYSIS……………………………………………………43 6.1 Within-Case Analysis: www.swedenbook.com .................................................43 6.1.1 Branding ………………………………………………………………43 6.1.2 Usability ……………………………………………………………….43 6.1.3 Trust Bu ild…………………………………………………………….45 6.2 Within-Case Analysis: www.gdbook.com .........................................................45 6.2. 1 Branding ………………………………………………………………45 6.2.2 Usability ……………………………………………………………….46 6.2.3 Trust Build …………………………………………………………….47 6.3 Cross-Case Analysis……………………………………………………………48 6.3.1 Branding ……………………………………………………………….48 6.3.2 Usability ………………………………………………………………..49 6.3.3 Trust Build ……………………………………………………………. 52 7 FINDS AND CONCLUSIONS………………………………………54 7.1 Can user interface have a positive impact on initial trust?............................54 7.2 How can the user interface properties influence initial trust……………… 54 7.3 How can the business-consumer e-merchant build initial trust by designing user interface be described?......................................................56 7.4 Findings………………………………………………………………………....57 7.5 Implications for practitioners………………………………………………....57 7.6 Implications for the theory…………………………………………………….57 7.7 limitations and avenues for further research………………………………. ..58 REFERENCE LIST…………………………………………………………………..59 Appendix Appendix One: Observation List Appendix Two: Questionnaire Appendix Three: Interview guidelines Appendix Four: Homepage of two website s Luleå University of Technology E-Commerce LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES FIGURE 1: THESIS STRUCTURE……………………………………………………………………….8 FIGURE 2: TRUST PYRAMID…………………………………………………………………………..10 FIGURE 3: THE MODEL OF TRUST FOR E-COMMERCE………………………….......................14 FIGURE 4: FRAME OF REFERENCE……………………………………………………………….....26 FIGURE 5: SCHEMATIC PRESENTATION OF THE METHODOLOGY………………………….27 TABLE 1: TYPES OF TRUST………………………………………………………………………….....9 TABLE 2: FACTORS IMPACTING INITIAL TRUST………………………………………………..12 TABLE 3: PRE-INTERACTIONAL FILTERS: COMPONENTS & SUB-COMPONENTS…………………………………………………………………………15 TABLE 4: INTERFACE PROPERTIES: COMPONENTS & SUB-COMPONENTS……………….18 TABLE 5: INFORMATIONAL CONTENT: COMPONENTS & SUB-COMPONENTS…………………………………………………………………………19 TABLE 6: RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: COMPONENTS & SUB-COMPONENTS…………………………………………………………………………20 TABLE 7: USER INTERFACE FACTORS……………………………………………………………..25 TABLE 8: TWO BELIEFS FOR INITIAL TRUST……………………………………………………..26 TABLE 9: RELEVANT SITUATIONS FOR DIFFERENT RESEARCH STRATEGIES………………………………………………………………………………….29 TABLE 10: SIX SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS…………………….30 TABLE 11: TACTICS USED IN CASE STUDY………………………………………………………...33 TABLE 12: FACTOR OF APPEAL IN THE TWO CASES…………………………………………...48 TABLE 13: FACTOR OF PROFESSIONALISM IN THE TWO CASES…………………………….48 TABLE 14: FACTOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL IN THE TWO CASES……………………………...49 TABLE 15: FACTOR OF NAVIGATION IN THE TWO CASES……………………………………...50 TABLE 16: FACTOR OF RELEVANCE IN THE TWO CASES……………………………………..50 TABLE 17: FACTOR OF RELIABILITY IN THE TWO CASES………………………………….....51 TABLE 18: FACTOR OF CONSISTENCY IN THE TWO CASES…………………………………...51 TABLE 19: FACTOR OF LEARNABILTY IN THE TWO CASES…………………………………..52 TABLE 20: FACTOR OF GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT IN THE TWO CASES……………………52 TABLE 21: DETERMINANTS OF TRUST IN THE TWO CASES…………………………………..52 TABLE 22: BANDING CUES ON BUILDING TRUST AND DESTROYING TRUST………………………………………………………………………………………..55 TABLE 23: USABILITY CUES ON BUILDING TRUST AND DESTROYING TRUST……………………………………………………………..........................................55 Introduction and Research Problem Chapter One Introduction and Research Problem In the first chapter, an introduction and a background of this research will be presented. Background of this research begin with conceptualization consumer trust , cues and determinations of initial trust, then moves to importance of user interface design. Subsequently, it narrows to down research problem and finally states the disposition of this thesis. 1.1 Introduction E-commerce is one of the most visible examples of the way in which information and communication technologies can contribute to economic growth, it allows businesses and entrepreneurs to become more competitive (Annan, 2002). Ecommerce, e-commerce, or electronic commerce is defined as the conduct of a financial transaction by electronic means. With the growth of commerce on the Internet and the Web, ecommerce often refers to purchases from online stores on the Web, otherwise knows as e-commerce Web sites. They may also be referred to as "virtual-stores" or Cyber stores (Straight-On Internet Consulting, 2005) . E-commerce can be business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C). Business-to-Business