Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Propensity To Trust, Purchase Experience, And Trusting Beliefs Of Unfamiliar E-Commerce Ventures, Gregory B. Murphy

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Trust has become a major issue among online shoppers. This underresearched subject will predictably determine the success or failure of e-commerce vendors. The lack of face-to-face interaction, the inability to inspect goods and services prior to purchase, and the asynchronous exchange of goods and money all contribute to the perceived risk of purchasing online and the resulting need for trust. Trust is particularly critical for small and new Internet ventures confronted by the liability of newness (Stinchcombe 1965). Lacking, among other things, a name that is readily recognized in the marketplace, entrepreneurial Internet ventures require trust if they are to …