First impressions: emotional and cognitive factors underlying judgments of trust e-commerce

ABSTRACT

Different communication media create different shopping experiences, e.g., the phone vs. the web. In this study, we examined the early formation of trust and the likelihood that a shopper will return to a website for subsequent purchases. Consumers were asked to select a blender as a gift for someone they knew using one of four types of user interfaces: (1) a standard web interface with no audio or real time interpersonal communication, (2) a web interface with text and audio descriptions of the products, (3) a web interface augmented with Instant Messaging and the ability of a sales agent to push web pages to the customer's web browser, and (4) a TV-based application that allowed a salesperson to talk to the customer while pushing catalog items to the customer's TV. Results indicate that real-time interactivity, but not voice, increased judgments of friendliness and of the trustworthiness of the salesperson. In this paper we discuss these and other results, and their implications for e-commerce.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.3 Communications Applications

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Interaction styles (e.g., commands, menus, forms, direct manipulation)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Synchronous interaction; Asynchronous interaction

General Terms:
Experimentation, Human Factors

Keywords:
attunement, audiovisual communication common ground, e-commerce, instant messaging, retail, trust