Investigating online trust of multi-channel retailers: The social relations and networks perspective

Abstract

Although there is an increasing trend of retailers having both offline and online channels for customers to purchase from, certain multi-channel retailers have not achieved the online success they have coveted. E-commerce researchers have cited trust as the key reason why online retailers are performing dismally online. This thesis adopts the social relations and networks perspective and investigate online trust development in three phases: before-interaction, initial-interaction and post-initial purchase phases. This thesis also differentiates online trust development towards a multi-channel retailer across product types as the poor performance of certain products in online sales such as jeans and shoes has been documented by researchers without providing specific solutions. Based on the findings, this thesis proposes significant implications for academics as well as practitioners.