Trust in E-Commerce: Consideration of Interface Design Factors

Abstract

The design of the interface for e-commerce transactions is one source of influence that can affect an online shopper’s trust in the merchant. This paper undertook a confirmatory factor analysis involving 14 trust-inducing interface design features that populated a conceptual framework proposed in our previous study. The factor analysis of self-reported ratings of the features, which were illustrated on a synthetic e-commerce interface by 181 survey respondents, revealed the following three underlying dimensions: (1) visual, (2) content, and (3) social-cue design dimensions. All 14 features were found to contribute to the composition of the three dimensions. The social-cue dimension was rated as less important than the other two dimensions, and shoppers who had been cheated by an online merchant showed lower overall trust ratings in comparison to the remaining shoppers. Qualitative reports by the survey respondents yielded additional insights about the importance of the interface. The results of this study may contribute to an appreciation of interface design features that may influence a user’s perception of the trustworthiness of an online merchant’s Web site.