The Human Face of E-Business: Engendering Consumer Initial Trust Through the Use of Images of Sales Personnel on E-Commerce Web Sites

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This paper appears in the publication, International Journal of E-Business Research, Volume 4, Issue 4 edited by In Lee © 2008, IGI Global

The Human Face of E-Business: Engendering Consumer Initial Trust Through the Use of Images of Sales Personnel on E-Commerce Web Sites Khalid Aldiri, University of Bradford, UK Dave Hobbs, University of Bradford, UK Rami Qahwaji, University of Bradford, UK

Abstract Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce suffers from consumers’ lack of trust. This may be partly attributable to the lack of face-to-face interpersonal exchanges that provide trust behavior in conventional commerce. It was proposed that initial trust may be built by simulating face-to-face interaction. To test this, an extensive laboratory-based experiment was conducted to assess the initial trust in consumers using four online vendors’ Web sites with a variety of still and video images of sales personnel, both Western and Saudi Arabian. Initial trust was found to be enhanced for Web sites employing photographs and video clips compared to control Web sites lacking such images; also the effect of culture was stronger in the Saudi Arabian setting when using Saudi photos rather than Western photos. Keywords:

B2C; e-commerce; initial trust; photograph; Saudi Arabia; video clip

Introduction

The beginning of the 21st century brought rapid development to the field of e-commerce and many enterprises in Western developed countries found success in this area. According to emarketer.com, total online retail sales for 2005 were $144,613 million. In 2001 Internet sales to households from the UK non-financial sector stood at £4 billion; by 2004 these had increased to over £18 billion (Wallis, 2006). The growth in Internet sales between 2003 and 2004 was over 67%; this clearly shows

brisk expansion in the value of Internet sales (Wallis, 2006). In the Asia-Pacific region, sales also grew rapidly, from about $200 billion in 2003 to about $300 billion by 2004 (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], 2003). In contrast, the situation in the Arab world is different since the estimated figure for B2C in Africa and the Middle East cannot be compared with those in the US, the EU, or China (UNCTAD, 2004). Trust in online shopping still represents a significant barrier for Internet users and is

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International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008 59

crippling the e-commerce environment (Zhang & Zhang, 2005). Trust is a critical component for any business transaction, and is particularly essential in the e-commerce environment because of the paucity of rules and customs in regulating e-commerce and due to the fact that, typically, online services and products are not immediately verifiable. Moreover, online transactions are more impersonal, anonymous, and automated and lack the assurance provided in traditional settings through formal proceedings and receipts. B2C online vendors are particularly challenged when trying to build and attain consumer trust. Indeed, in contrast to face-to-face commerce and to other applications of trust, which encompass a wide range of emotions involving various types of social interaction with humans, there are typically no interpersonal interactions in e-commerce, neither direct nor implied. Such interactions, or even cues relating to them, are notably missing from e-commerce Web sites. Online shopping may be viewed as lacking human warmth and sociability. The social aspect of shopping has been shown to be a major contributor towards positive emotions (Jones, 1999) that have been linked to several important outcomes, such as increased unplanned purchasing, increased spending, and increased time spent in the store (Jones, 1999). Online vendors face a significant challenge in making their Web sites socially rich (Kumar & Benbasat, 2002). The aspect of trust has been examined over many years, however, most of the research on consumer trust focuses on consumers in English-speaking countries and newly industrialized countries. Trust in e-commerce research has been conducted almost exclusively in the US or Western Europe. Considering the cultural, economic, social, and political differences between the developed and less developed countries, concerns have been raised in terms of whether research based in the US or Western Europe can be generalized to other countries (Bagozzi, Wong, Abe, & Bergami, 2000). The global nature of the Internet raises questions about the effects of trust across cultures as well. Although trust may be formed in a variety of

ways, it depends on the cultural factors (e.g., societal norms, values, etc.) that guide people’s behaviors and beliefs. Despite the differences national culture can cause in e-commerce behavior (Kacen & Lee, 2002), and despite ecommerce becoming global, research on trust in e-commerce has to emphasize the possible effects of national culture. For that, this study attempts to carry out a pilot case investigation of our research objectives in Saudi Arabia; a developing country with the highest growth in Internet users in the Middle East and Africa (www.mcit.gov.sa).

Research Objectives and Organization of the Article

This study researched the effect of adding media cues (video clips, photographs) of a presumed sales person’s face to the home page of an ecommerce vendor, and considered the effect of social presence cues, also known as interpersonal cues, that are implicit in the media cue on users’ initial trust in the vendor (Research Objective 1). The majority of studies of online customer trust focus on general trust as it develops between customers and online vendors over time and after repeated experiences. While we recognize the importance of the evolving nature of trust, our study focuses on initial trust beliefs that develop after a customer first interacts with the company’s Web site. The difference between the two concepts may be subtle but, as we discuss later, is significant, particularly in the online environment. The study further investigated the effect of culture, as represented by a facial photograph of a Western and Saudi man added to the home page of an e-commerce vendor, on users’ trust in that vendor (Research Objective 2). This experiment was concerned with investigating trust as a dependent variable and other variables as independent variables, as well as how the depth of a user’s exploration of a site (exploration depth) influences the effect of a media cue on user trust (Research Objective 3). On a methodological level, the experiment aimed to overcome part of the limitations of conventionally used trust questionnaires free from financial risk by introducing trust ques-

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tionnaires that were elicited under conditions of financial risk (Research Objective 4). This article is organized as follows: the second section examines previous work related to e-commerce and trust and reviews the research hypotheses. The third section outlines the methodology of the study, while the data analysis is presented in the fourth section. The results are discussed in the fifth section and in the final section conclusions are drawn.

Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Trust

Trust has widely conflicting conceptual definitions; the literature on trust in general, and on trust in e-commerce in particular, is in a state of confusion (McKnight & Chervany, 2001). The confusion in trust terminology is expressed in terms of two kinds of problems. First, similar concepts are given different names and second, the same terms are used for different concepts (Krauter, Kaluscha, & Fladnitzer, 2006). There is no universally accepted scholarly definition of trust (Rousseau, Sitkin, Butt, & Camerer, 1998). Summarizing the different definitions of trust across various research disciplines, it can be concluded that all trust definitions address one or more of the following perspectives: (1) context characteristics, (2) trustor properties, and (3) characteristics of the trusted object (Krauter et al., 2006). Many definitions also address the interaction or relationships between two or all three of these perspectives. The key concepts of most of the trust definitions are risk (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995), vulnerability (Mayer et al., 1995), expectation (Baier, 1986), and confidence (Lewicki & Bunker, 1995). These factors are gathered by the following trust definition, which represent the most common definition of online trust (Mayer et al., 1995): Trust is the willingness to depend upon another party and be vulnerable to the actions of this other party based on the assumption that

the trusted party will deliver without taking advantage of the situation. (p. 711) As it is very abstract, this definition can be seen as the most common in the human computer interaction (HCI) trust research (Corritore, Kracher, & Wiedenbeck, 2003). It defines trust as an internal state or attitude which entails cognitive and affective aspects (Corritore et al., 2003). Trust, as an internal state, is different from trusting action (e.g., buying online, entering credit card details, relying on advice) or cooperation (e.g., in a team setting), which are observable behaviors (Corritore et al., 2003). Also trust is not the same as trustworthiness; trust is the act of a trustor while perceived trustworthiness is a characteristic of someone or something that is the object of trust (Corritore et al., 2003; Serva, Benamati, & Fuller, 2005). In the e-commerce context, trust has been defined rather narrowly (e.g., Bhattacherjee, 2002, defined trust as trusting beliefs) or more broadly (e.g., McKnigh, Choudhury, & Kacmar, 2002, who defined trust as trusting beliefs and trusting intentions). Trusting beliefs (i.e., perceptions of Web vendor attributes), and trusting intentions (i.e., intentions to engage in trust-related behaviors with a Web vendor) are based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) which was introduced by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) to analyze the psychological processes that reflect observed relationships among beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. The theory asserts that intention to perform behavior is determined by the individual’s attitude toward the behavior, and a person’s attitude is affected by his/her beliefs. TRA has been widely accepted and applied to a broad range of disciplines and contexts. Existing empirical research has revealed that trust is significantly related to attitude, and attitude positively signifies people’s purchase intentions (Chow & Holden, 1997; Macintosh & Lockshin, 1997). TRA is also applied as the theoretical base in recent studies on trust formation (McKnight & Chervany, 2001; McKnight, Cummings, & Chervany, 1998), especially in the context of e-commerce (Jarvenpaa, Tractinsky, & Vitale, 2000). Since trust can be seen as a belief,

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confidence, sentiment, or expectation about an exchange partner’s intention and/or likely behavior, we believe that it is posited to be directly related to the attitudes toward purchasing from a vendor and indirectly related to consumers’ willingness to buy through purchasing attitudes. This is how we define trust in this article; this is consistent with how trust has been previously defined in the literature (Gefen, 2002). Trustors and trustees, that is, objects of trust, can be individual people, groups, organizations, or even societies. This article focuses on the narrow-scale study of trust, where the target is an individual e-business. At this level, the focus is on the process of identifying a trustee’s characteristics or his trustworthiness.

The Varying Dimensionality of Trust

Although there is no complete agreement on the meaning of trust, it should be noted that the dimensions that constitute it are context-specific (Lewis & Weigert, 1985). As mentioned previously, the literature does reveal that the concept of trust tends to coalesce around a few key recurring concepts. There must exist, for the trusting party, uncertainty about a potential or existing relationship that leads to a certain perception of risk or vulnerability. This perception of risk is generally based upon the beliefs regarding specific factors of the trustee. Yet, recent research has primarily focused on three specific factors which may parsimoniously capture the concept or the dimensions of trustworthiness—that is, ability, benevolence, and integrity (Jarvenpaa et al., 2000). Ability is the perceived skills, competencies, and characteristics that enable a party to have influence within a specific domain (Mayer et al., 1995). Benevolence is the trustor’s belief that the trustee wants to do good toward the trustor. Integrity is the belief that the trustee adheres to a set of principles that the trustor finds acceptable (Mayer et al., 1995). Perceptions of these three characteristics can lead to a willingness of the trusting party to depend or rely upon the trustee in expectation of a certain beneficial outcome or that the trustee will not act opportunistically. These

three specific factors can often not be observed directly, but need to be inferred from signals in the Web site interface. In HCI trust research, signals given in the interface of a system that can form the basis of perceived trustworthiness are referred to as surface cues (Fogg, 2002). Certain literatures construct trust from different viewpoints and propose two main components or factors of trust: cognitive and affective or emotional (e.g., Shneiderman, 2000). Feng, Lazar, and Preece (2004) argue that the affective component of trust has been to some extent ignored in HCI trust research, in particular in the domain of e-commerce, where research is largely focused on factors that contribute to cognitive trust, such as security, error absence, and trust seals. For retail transactions, cognitive factors can increase the confidence that a transaction will be successfully completed. Affective factors can increase the feelings of attraction and trust. The distinction between cognitive and emotional trust has received some support in an empirical study on long-term work relationships (McAllister, 1995), and strong support in a face-to-face study that manipulated emotional trust (Johnson-George & Swap, 1982). However, only a few studies have examined affective-oriented factors in an e-commerce (B2C) environment. This oversight of the affective element of trust does not reflect the increasing consideration that is given to affective processes in multiple disciplines (e.g., marketing, psychology, sociology) (Riegelsberger, Sasse, & McCarthy, 2005). For example, marketing and advertising research are the fields that have the greatest power in investigating affective elements in decision-making processes. In these disciplines it is well-known that a consumer’s purchase decision depends on rational process and on positive affective reactions (Kotler, 2002). However, as mentioned in the research objectives, this study concentrates on initial trust. The definition of trust previously discussed also applies to initial trust. The difference lies in the temporal context of the development of trust. In this case, initial trust is the willingness

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to rely on a third party after the first interaction with that party. It is recognized that the development of trust is an ongoing, dynamic process that is influenced by interactions between two parties. However, we believe that initial trust beliefs can also be formed without any prior experience or interaction between the two parties. The initial trust beliefs may change with time and with repeated interactions but they may also determine the extent to which such future interactions will take place (McKnight, Choudhury, & Kacmar, 2002). In the context of e-commerce, initial trust is very important since Web-based companies must rely on their Web sites to represent them and to show their new customers that they are reliable and trustworthy. Customers visiting a Web site for the first time may rely heavily on Web site cues to form their initial trust beliefs, but they still lack the important information that develops through interaction over time (McKnight et al., 2002). Another important reason for establishing customer trust through the first Web site visit is the possibility of low switching costs for new customers compared with switching costs for expert customers (Reichheld & Schefter, 2000). Since the Web contains vast numbers of alternatives, either in vendors or in products, it has become very easy for customers to switch to a different online store after their first visit. So it has become an essential process for online vendors to try to establish and retain a trusting relationship with first time customers. Therefore, we believe that a thorough examination of the factors that promote initial trust in new customers of online vendors is critical.

Social Presence and Online Trust

Applying trust-inducing features to the Web sites of online merchants is the most effective technique for enhancing online trust. Many researchers in HCI have begun to study trust in an online context. Some researchers are focusing on the cues that may affect trust or convey trustworthiness to users of Web sites. In a sense, a Web site with trust-inducing features functions

as a skillful salesperson for the company (e.g., Katsikas, Lopez, & Pernul, 2005). The trust phenomenon represents an ongoing interpersonal interaction with another party, whether a person or organization, over an extended period of time. Indeed, trust is typically built gradually through extensive ongoing interactions that enable individuals to create reliable expectations of what the other party may do (Luhmann, 1979). This social context is a key characteristic of trust and trust-building behaviors, since trust, in general, is built through constructive interactions with other people (Luhmann, 1979). So, the perception of a high degree of social presence, implying direct or indirect human contact in the relationship should, arguably, contribute to the building of trust. Extending this logic implies that another way in which trust in an e-commerce Web site may be built is through embedding the Web site interface with a high social presence, such as the perception that there is a medium of communication that represents personal, sociable, and sensitive human contact (Gefen & Straub, 2004). Social presence has been defined as the extent to which a medium allows users to experience others as being psychologically present (Fulk, Schmitz, & Power, 1987). Social presence theory by Short, Williams, and Christie (1976) describes how the social context affects medium use; they see social presence as a quality inherent in a communication medium. Some researchers characterize the social presence of a medium as its capacity to transmit information about facial expressions, posture, dress, and non-verbal cues (Short et al., 1976). Others focus on the psychological connection, where social presence is concerned with warmth and whether it conveys a feeling of human contact or sociability (Yoo & Alavi, 2001). While others still, focus on its close relationship to information richness theory (Straub, 1994), which concentrates on the interactivity of the media. Related to media information richness theory (Straub, 1994), social presence theory considers the extent to which a medium enables

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a communicator to experience communication partners as being psychologically present (Short et al., 1976). High social presence is typically found in face-to-face communication. However, medium richness can vary depending on circumstances (Zmud, Lind, & Young, 1990). A significant difference between online and off-line shopping environments is that the latter involve a wide range of social interactions with humans through multiple sensory channels. Online shopping, on the other hand, primarily tends towards reducing the users’ affective or emotional factors through functional and performance based Web site design. As such, online shopping may be viewed as lacking human sociability, since it is more impersonal and automated than traditional offline commerce. Social responses to computer technology (SRCT) research paradigm proposes that individual interactions with computers and other communication technologies are fundamentally social and natural, and people interact with computers and mediated stimuli using the same social attitudes and behaviors that they apply to other people. The computers are social actors (CASA) paradigm (Nass, , Moon, & Carney, 1999) initiated this field of research and uses theories and experiments derived from psychology, sociology, and communication to develop and validate theories. Granted, online shopping Web sites typically involve no actual interaction with other people, however, Web site interface features have been suggested to help impact the perception of social presence cues, also known as interpersonal cues (discussed in more detail in the next section), that can be embedded in different ways. Higher perceived social presence cues in a Web site may increase online trust through their effect on increased electronic communication since communication is a necessary element of constructive interaction (Gefen & Straub, 2004). Trust may increase when the trusted party shows behavior or other indicators in accordance with one’s expectations; the perception that the vendor is embodying a high degree of social presence cues in the Web site should increase consumer

trust to the degree that such indications are expected (Luhmann, 1979). Social presence cues can convey a sense of personal, sociable, and sensitive human contact, so too should multimedia Web sites. Indeed, recently many online shopping Web sites have used interface features and embedded social presence cues. Advertising research has long relied on imagery of friendly faces to build a positive attitude towards products.

Social Presence Cues (Interpersonal Cues)

Social presence cues, also known as interpersonal cues, are the signals that make a person aware of the presence of other people (Short et al., 1976). They are non-verbal and para-verbal communication methods and suggest participant appearance each time a person interacts with another. It may be intentional or unintentional and it is part of the rapid stream of communication that passes between two interacting individuals. Although there are a number of definitions of social presence cues (interpersonal cues), in the broadest sense it is communication that transcends the bare elements of the written or spoken word. The interpretation of this communication has been shown to have a central effect on participants’ perceptions of the event and can give information about individuals’ backgrounds, motivations, and emotional attitudes. They augment spoken messages by helping people express their feelings or thoughts through the use of their bodies, their facial expressions, and their tone of voice and so on (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972). Psychological studies have concluded that more than 65% of the information exchanged during a face-to-face interaction is expressed through non-verbal means. Fromkin & Rodman (1983) suggest that up to 90% of the communicative process takes place non-verbally. The characteristics of the individuals involved and their response to coding and decoding signals govern the role of social presence cues in any exchange. Three specific variables can be identified as impacting on the nature of non-verbal communication during the

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exchange; gender, culture, and personal traits. Social presence cues (interpersonal cues) are of relevance in the debate on trust as they can be interpreted as signals for trustworthiness. A trustor can form an impression of perceived trustworthiness of a trustee from the interpersonal cues he/she perceives in a face-to-face situation; it works as inferences (Steinbruck, Schaumburg, Kruger, & Duda, 2002). Interpersonal cues lead to an instant impression formation and thus have an immediate impact on affective trust. The different types of cues differ in their reliability for trust assessments, and in how they are affected by transmission over media (Riegelsberger et al., 2005). There are many classifications of interpersonal cues (Hinton, 1993); the most common types are: 1. Paralanguage: The vocal cues that accompany spoken language 2. Kinesics: Body movements 3. Occulesics: Eye behavior 4. Appearance/artifacts 5. Proxemics: The non-verbal study of space and distance 6. Haptics: The non-verbal communication study of touch 7. Olfactics: The non-verbal communication study of smell 8. Chronomics: The non-verbal communication study of time 9. Facial expressions

one of the reasons for the lack of trust online (Shneiderman, 2000). This assumption is well supported by many studies (e.g., Hassanein & Head, 2004). These studies found that richer representations result in higher awareness, preference, and interpersonal focus. The most commonly used example of visual interpersonal cues is the smile—this has been identified as powerful in stimulating immediate affective responses, and can form a basis for affective trust. Thus, Web site interface elements such as photographs, video clips, or synthetic voices can create some level of social presence that may enhance the affective trust compared to Web site interfaces lacking such elements, and can therefore be taken as an indication of the trustworthiness of the trustee. There is much research on trust in e-commerce vendors, while in contrast there are very few that have specifically tested the effect of interpersonal cues on trust (Al-Diri, Hobbs, & Qahwaji, 2006). Some of the existing studies focused on the effect of synthetic interpersonal cues in avatars (embodied agents); others investigated the effect of displaying facial photos of humans on e-commerce sites. All of these studies tested users’ trust either in the form of quantitative questionnaires or with qualitative interviews, using two mock-ups of an e-commerce Web site, one with and one without a photo or avatar (e.g., Bickmore & Picard, 2005).

Online Trust and Media Cue

Video

Existing technologies allow for various representations of interpersonal cues that are embodied in different kinds of media cues (e.g., photo, audio, video, embodied agent) to be integrated into one platform. There are many theoretical concepts that classify and explain such media effects. The most common are social presence (Short et al., 1976), media richness (Straub, 1994), and SRCT (Nass, Moon, Fogg, Reeves, & Dryer, 1996) as discussed in the previous section. The reduction in the number of interpersonal cues when interacting online is seen as

In general, video is considered to be a rich media cue and thus is considered to afford high social presence cues as it transmits many visual and audio cues. In a study by Swerts, Krahmer, Barkhuysen, and Van de Laar (2003), on the effect of social presence cues on the detection of speaker uncertainty, they found the best discriminative ability for video with audio, compared to video only and audio only. Brosig, Ockenfels, and Weimann (2002) found that video with audio reached levels of cooperation that were close to those reached

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in face-to-face communication, even though they were reached after a longer time than in face-to-face communication. Horn, Olson, and Karasik (2002) in a study on lie detection in job interviews found a better performance in discriminating lies from truthful statements in high quality video than in audio only. The study also compared low resolution video and low frame rate video. They found that low resolution video, which suppresses detailed facial cues gives a performance as high-quality video and good performance in lie detection. Horn et al. (2002) attribute this result to the reduction in truth bias in the absence of recognizable facial cues and the fact that the presence of facial cues may lead to a trusting reaction. A study by Van Mulken, Andre, and Müller (1999) investigated trust in advice. This study varied the representation of an advisor (video, embodied agent, audio, and text only) and the quality of the advice. Hence, the effect of media representation could be compared to the effect of advice quality. The study found a preference for high quality advice in all representations, but only insignificant indication of a positive effect for video on the behavioral measures.

well as consumers with a high level of distrust towards online-vendors, benefited little from the provision of social cues in the interface (Riegelsberger & Sasse, 2002). Steinbruck et al. (2002), in an experimental study, investigated whether adding a photo of an employee to the home page of an online-banking site increased user trust in the bank—they found a positive effect on trust. As a result of the foregoing it was hypothesized that:

Photos

Web Site Design and Culture

Research on the use of personal photos in Web sites are very few and contradictory, with some studies finding such images to be a positive cue (Fogg, 2002; Nielsen, 1996; Steinbruck et al., 2002), while others found them to be neutral (Riegelsberger, Sasse, & McCarthy, 2002). Urban, Fareena, and Qualls (1999) found that screen-sized facial photographs of shopping assistants embedded into a shopping Web site interface led to a wide range of reactions as some users liked it, while others considered it unnecessary. In the Fogg et al. (2001) study on the credibility of online news articles, they found that photos of authors increased credibility. Riegelsberger, Sasse, and McCarthy (2003) found that virtual re-embedding had a positive effect on user trust for medium experienced shoppers. Highly experienced Internet users, as

H-1: Subjects differ significantly on their rating of trust belief and trust intention across vendor’s Web sites. H-2: H-2-a-The first rating of a vendor’s Web sites trustworthiness will result for those presenting video clips. H-2-b-The second rating of a vendor’s Web sites trustworthiness will result for those presenting photos H-2-c-The third rating of a vendor’s Web sites trustworthiness will result for those without photos. Understanding how to build trust for diverse consumers in electronic markets is imperative (Grewal, Munger, Iyer, & Levy, 2003). Culture has implications in Internet settings as well and is considered to influence consumer trust (Jarvenpaa & Tractinsky, 1999), Internet diffusion (Ferle, Edwards, & Mizuno, 2002), Internet marketing (Tian & Emery, 2002), Web site development (Kang & Corbitt, 2001), and Web interface acceptance and preferences. Despite an anticipated large number of consumers from multiple cultures, few studies have examined the Web preferences of users in terms of design characteristics across cultures (Chen & Dhillon, 2003). Cyr and Trevor-Smith (2004) found statistically significant characteristics in Web design for municipal Web sites across cultures. Further, Simon (2001) examined cul-

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66 International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008

tural differences related to Web site satisfaction among the residents of Asia, Europe, Latin and South America, and North America based on Hofstede’s model and found different preferences for colors and navigation. Sun’s (2001) exploratory study examining cultural markers focused on language, pictures and graphics, colors, and page layout and found culture to be an important design consideration that increases usability of multilingual Web pages. All of these studies point to one general conclusion—Web sites need to be adapted to the different cultures of the targeted consumers. Singh, Xhao, and Hu, (2003) concluded: “The web is not a culturally neutral medium.” Studies like that of Hillier (2003) emphasized that “building trust on the web requires user interface characteristics appropriate for culturally diverse audiences.” An effective Web site design can engage and attract online consumers’ trustworthiness (Fogg et al., 2001), which is also considered central to trust development (Egger, 2001).

Cultural Photo as a Symbol

Symbols are important elements denoting culture (Marcus & Gould, 2000). One important form of symbolism is multimedia relating to culture, which few researchers have so far examined. Such multimedia elements might include streaming video, sound, and animation. So, the aim was to identify whether the strategy of adding a facial photo representing the users’ culture is beneficial when tested and can bias the trustworthiness of vendor Web sites. Hence the following additional research hypotheses were proposed: H-3: Across Web sites including human portraits there will be significant statistical differences in trustworthiness between Web sites with local social presence and Web sites with foreign social presence. H-4: Saudi subjects will trust a Web site with Saudi social presence (photo) more than a Web site with Western social presence (photo).

Experimental Methodology

This study was designed as a one-factor experiment manipulating three levels of Web site social presence cues (or interpersonal cues). Each of the four specially designed Web sites displayed the same products but each represented different vendors. Only the media cues were manipulated on the sites. Thus, the study attempted to investigate and examine the effects of the interpersonal cues that can be manipulated by facial photographs, video clips, and culture as control variables, which used photos of Saudi and Western people when forming the initial trust toward online vendors. In addition the study set out to measure some auxiliary parameters.

Experiment Participants

The experiment was conducted in an IT training institute in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The number of participants totaled 72 students. Since online consumers are generally younger and more highly educated than conventional customers, student samples are close to the online consumer population (McKnigh et al., 2002) and therefore are representative of online shoppers (Gefen & Straub, 2004).

Experiment Material

An initial survey on the most popular online products was carried out and found that laptops came first in popularity. The stimulus experiment material used in this research was carefully selected, having noted that previous studies in online trust used mock-ups of shopping sites to test the effect of interpersonal cues (e.g., Riegelsberger et al., 2002; Steinbruck et al., 2002). This experiment used semi-functional copies of existing vendors’ sites, chosen in consultation with the four most famous reviewer business sites; BizRate.com, ResellerRating.com, Price Grabber.com, and Epinion.com to facilitate the task of rating online shopping sites. These services aggregate feedback from customers of e-commerce vendors based on post service and handling of privacy and security, which

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represents an aspect of vendor trustworthiness. Western shopping sites were selected as they constitute a realistic scenario with relatively high risk, due to the vendor and the users being in two different countries. The selection was based on the rating of high trustworthiness of the vendors and the number of reviewers of the selected site. Also we made a usability test for the four vendors’ Web sites to check the usability index for each Web site and to make sure that all selected Web sites had almost the same usability criteria. To do that, we asked five participants to use the checklist developed by Keevil (1998) to measure the usability index of the four Web sites. The checklist has over 200 questions in five categories, and even though it is not very recent, it is still valid and robust. The results showed that the four Web sites had almost the same usability index. Semi-functional copies of the Web site including the home page and some subsequent

layers depending on the available links in each layer were designed so that participants were able to browse and search general information about the site. Also any certification or reputation seals that were present on some pages were removed. Photos and the video clip were selected by five professionals in computing and business, who were asked to rate the photos and select the most appropriate based on a realistic image of a customer service representative. The media cues (photo or video clip) were placed in attractive places in the first page of the site showing the selected product (without deleting or hiding anything from the page itself). This page was connected to the entire Web site so the subject could browse and search the site. In addition, each media cue was presented into each vendor Web site based on a predefined Web sites display scenario (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Snap shot of the experimental Web sites

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68 International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008

Data Collection

The research methodology of studies on trust in e-commerce can be categorized into qualitative approaches, using either semi-structured interviews (e.g., Egger, 2001), or qualitative interviews in conjunction with user evaluation sessions (e.g., Witkowski, Neville, & Pitt, 2003). The second category entails trust questionnaires in an experiment environment, in this approach the majority of studies used an experiential survey, that is, participants were asked to navigate to a specified or self-selected Internet company and had to perform several predefined tasks and afterwards report on their impressions by filling out a questionnaire (e.g., Jarvenpaa et al., 2000). A second group of studies that used this approach, applied a basic survey approach, that is, subjects were administered a questionnaire or they were pointed to an online-questionnaire form without previously visiting any e-commerce Web site (e.g., Bhattacherjee, 2002). The third category involves social dilemma games, studies in this category measure players’ rate of cooperation and defection to infer media effects on trust and trustworthy behavior (e.g., Brosig et al., 2002). From a clear review of these approaches, there are distinct advantages and disadvantages. For this study it was decided to use the hypothesis-testing laboratory and experimental quantitative approach. This approach allows a high level of experimental control for independent variables while keeping resource requirements relatively low. All experimental tasks during this research experiment were performed in a computer laboratory. The research instrument to measure the constructs of interest was developed by adapting existing measures from the literature to the current research context. All items were scored on a five-point, Likert-type scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree (see Appendix 1). As the experiment was conducted in an Arabic speaking country, the questionnaire, originally written in English, was translated into Arabic by a bilingual person whose native language is Arabic. The Arabic questionnaire was then translated back into English by another

bilingual person. This English version was then compared with the original version and no items were found to deviate significantly in terms of language. This process was conducted not only because it can prevent any distortions in meaning across cultures, but also because it can enhance the translation quality. The study question items consisted of five sections. The first section included the basic demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education level, and Internet experience. In the second section, respondents were asked to answer questions on their online purchasing experience. In the third section, respondents were tested for their trust propensity or disposition to trust an individual trait, defined as a “general willingness based on extended socialization to depend on others” (McKnight & Chervany, 2001). The questionnaire items were selected based on their high reliability and validity to discriminate the construct and achieve a high Cronbach alpha value; this was adapted from Teo and Liu (2005) and Gefen (2000). In the fourth section, respondents were asked to answer a question adapted from McKnigh et al. (2002) regarding their belief towards the Internet as a new medium or as a new environment (i.e., how confident they feel in the Internet system). This item was adapted based on high value of reliability and validity—its Cronbach alpha value was 94%. The fifth section tested respondents on their trust and trust intentions toward the e-commerce vendor. The questionnaire items reflected the most common trust belief dimensions, which are ability, integrity, and benevolence. Also it measured trust intentions—intentions to engage in trust-related behaviors with the Web vendor. All items in this section were adapted from Kammerer (2000), since his questionnaire items effectively discriminate trustworthy from less trustworthy online vendors. Also, Kammerer reports excellent reliability scores with Cronbach alpha values of 0.97%.

Experimental Procedure and Tasks

Previous online trust research has been criticized for relying on measuring trust without inducing any form of risk (Riegelsberger et al., 2003),

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International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008 69

which represents an important key related to trust. To overcome these criticisms, this study induced financial risk in a laboratory situation. While it does not fully represent a real-world risk, nevertheless, it allowed combining a laboratory setting with some element of real-world risk by informing participants that the experiment Web site trustworthiness had been assessed and rated by independent business reviewer sites and one of their tasks was to identify the trustworthiness of each shopping site; those whose rating matched the real trustworthiness rate would be entered into a lucky draw with prizes such as a laptop to be offered in a random draw conducted at the end of the study. In this way we induced a slightly higher level of risk thus, increasing the realism of the experiment and encouraging participation. At the beginning of the experiment a brief introduction and the total estimated time that it would take were given. Then participants started the first part of the experiment by opening the first experiment page, which includes the experiment objectives and instructions, then they started filling out sets of the first four questionnaires sections, which extracted some demographic characteristics, online purchasing experience, disposition to trust, and their belief towards the Internet as a new medium or as a new environment. In ������������������������ the second part each subject was asked to look at four Web sites and browse them. This involved looking at the site and then evaluating the e-commerce vendor using the online vendor trust questionnaire. This process was repeated for all four Web sites in the set. However, in order to avoid predictability and the effect of learning by subjects within the scenarios (the possibility that participants exposed to a particular interface or task would do better the next time they were asked to use it), we defined each media cue to a particular vendor Web site since they had almost the same usability criteria. Also, within the experiment software we included a software module with the capability to control the order display scenario of the four Web sites so that different subjects would receive each of the four experimental Web sites in a different order.

When subjects finished, they were asked to move on to the third part which comprised one task. In the first task each subject was asked to search the first Web site seen and imagine that they had enough money to buy a laptop that would serve their needs for the next two years. The subjects were required to indicate the model, price, and certain product specifications of their final laptop choice. Once the participants had found their products and completed their responses on the instruction form, they were asked to fill out the vendor trust questionnaire again.

Data Analysis

All data analysis was conducted using the SPSS Windows software package. A total of 72 subjects participated in this study, all male and between the ages of 18-25 and 26-35 respectively; most (79.2%) held bachelor degrees. As expected, this group was Internet-savvy with over 39% of the respondents spending between 6 and 10 hours online per week. On average, the majority made at least one online purchase per week and 28% of the respondents spent 2000SR (1$=3.75SR) or more per online purchase.

Testing the Research Hypotheses

The experiment analysis is based on the wellknown statistical test of Friedman. This test is an alternative to the repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), when the assumption of normality or equality of variance is not met. This, like many non-parametric tests, uses the ranks of the data rather than their raw values to calculate the statistic. This test was chosen because it is suitable for comparing variant vendor Web sites embedded with different media cues when the relative data sample has some characteristics also presented in this context, including the following ones (Peter & Smeeton, 2001; Sheskin, 2004): •

The experimental data is not parametric, that is, the dependent variables are not normally distributed.

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70 International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008

•

•

The number of compared Web sites is two and more. In our context, we typically compared several vendors Web sites embedded with different media cues. The same subjects were used to observe different manipulation in vendors’ Web sites.

To test the first hypothesis (H-1), the Friedman test was used. This test was computed for trust belief and trust intention of all Web sites to see if there were any significant statistical differences between the subjects’ answers with regard to the trustworthiness of the four Web sites. Two types of data were used in the analysis, the first was the mean value of each subject answer, and the second was the actual subject answer regarding each questionnaire item. Results showed the subjects differed significantly on their rating of their initial trust and trust intention regarding the four vendors’ Web sites owing to the overall statistical significance (P =.000) at 0.05 levels using the two kinds of data; so, the first hypothesis was supported (see Table 1). In order to test the second hypothesis (H2-a, b, c) it was necessary to conduct comparisons contrasting specific conditions with one

another. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test was recommended by Sheskin (2004) and Peter and Smeeton (2001) for conducting the three pairwise comparisons (video clip, photo, no photo) with regard to trust belief and trust intention. Table 2 contains the results. After reviewing the three analyses, it was found that all pairwise comparisons were significant, with the exception of the video-photo Web site comparison in trust intention. Subjects rated the trust belief and trust intention for the photo Web site the highest, the video clip Web site next highest, and the no photo Web site as the lowest. Thus, the second hypothesis was only partially supported, since the vendor Web site utilizing the video clip came second rather than the expected first position. A possible explanation for this unexpected result is that the video clip was not recorded to professional standards. The same procedure followed when testing the first, and the second hypothesis was also used to test the H-3 and the H-4 hypotheses, but in this case between two vendor Web sites only, (the Web site with the Saudi photo and the Web site with the Western photo). The Friedman matched samples results are shown in Table 3. The analysis showed that subjects

Table 1. Friedman test for trust belief and trust intention between the four Web sites Trust Belief

Trust Intention

Ability

Integrity

Benevolence

N

72

72

72

72

Friedman test Sig at 5%

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Table 2. Results of Wilcoxon signed rank test Web site With photo With video clip With no photo

Trust type

Rank

Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Asymp.Sig

Trust Belief

1

Yes

Trust Intention

1

Yes

Trust Belief

2

Yes

Trust Intention

2

No

Trust Belief

3

Yes

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International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008 71

Table 3. Friedman test for trust belief and trust intention between the two Web sites Trust Belief

Trust Intention

Ability

Integrity

Benevolence

N

72

72

72

72

Friedman test Sig at 5%

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

differed significantly on their rating of their trust belief (ability and integrity, although not for benevolence dimension), and also for trust intention in respect of the two vendor Web sites (overall statistical significance of p=.000 at 0.05 levels using the two kinds of data); so the third hypothesis was fully supported (see Table 3). With respect to the fourth hypothesis (H4), the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test was conducted for comparison, contrasting specific conditions with one another with regard to trust belief and trust intention. Table 4 contains the results. From Wilcoxon test analyses, it can be said that pairwise comparison was significant. Subjects rated the trust belief and trust intention for the Web site using a Saudi photo as the highest; the Web site with a Western photo next. So the fourth hypothesis was supported.

Analysis of the Exploration Depth

In terms of investigating the factor depth of a users’ exploration of a site (exploration depth) which influences the effect of media-subject on user trust (Research Goal 3), a superficial exploration of the home page and additional

pages with no task browsing was compared to a subsequent in-depth exploration of a vendor’s site, beyond the home page with predefined task browsing. Hence, each participant in this scenario saw the first vendor’s site twice: first only the home page and the additional pages that were linked from it, but with a general browsing task (superficial exploration); then the home page and additional pages, but with the specific task of imaginary purchasing—an in-depth exploration. The introduction of the exploration depth was used for several reasons. Most trust models indicated that browsing time is an essential factor affecting trust. Initial trust in the first encounter depends on factors other than behavioral trust that emerges from a longstanding relationship. Applying this consideration to the initial trust that can be measured in a laboratory experiment, it can be proposed that the level of trust will be based upon factors other than initial trust after a detailed exploration of the site. A media cue might have a strong effect based on a quick look, but might lose its significance once more information (e.g., from a site’s security and privacy policies) is obtainable. On the other hand, it can be expected that the first impression (e.g., influenced by a media

Table 4. Results of Wilcoxon signed rank test Web site With Saudi photo With Western photo

Trust type

Rank

Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Asymp.Sig

Trust Belief

1

Yes

Trust Intention

1

Yes

Trust Belief

2

Yes

Trust Intention

2

Yes

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72 International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008

cue) can color further information processing and thus have a long-term effect (Baron & Byrne, 2004). The same analysis techniques were used in investigating the data. The analysis confirmed the same finding, that there was a statistical significance between trust of the four vendors’ Web sites, where the Web sites with a facial photo were ranked first and then those with a video clip. Also the vendor Web site with

a Saudi photo was trusted more (statistically significant) than that with a Western photo (see Tables 5, 6, 7, and 8). Finally, many nonparametric correlation tests were conducted to see whether there were any significant relationships between the trust belief; trust intention and participants’ trust disposition; system assurance; age; education level; or Internet usage. Results showed no

Table 5. Friedman test for trust belief and trust intention between the four Web sites Trust Belief

Trust Intention

Ability

Integrity

Benevolence

N

72

72

72

72

Friedman test Sig at 5%

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Table 6. Friedman test for trust belief and trust intention between the two Web sites Trust Belief

Trust Intention

Ability

Integrity

Benevolence

N

72

72

72

72

Friedman test Sig at 5%

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Table 7. Results of Wilcoxon signed rank test Web site With photo With video clip With no photo

Trust type

Rank

Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Asymp.Sig

Trust Belief

1

Yes

Trust Intention

1

Yes

Trust Belief

2

Yes

Trust Intention

2

Yes

Trust Belief

3

Yes

Trust Intention

3

Yes

Table 8. Results of Wilcoxon signed rank test Web site With Saudi photo With Western photo

Trust type

Rank

Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test Asymp.Sig

Trust Belief

1

Yes

Trust Intention

1

Yes

Trust Belief

2

Yes

Trust Intention

2

Yes

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International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008 73

statistically significant differences between any of these variables.

Discussion

This experiment investigated initial trust in e-commerce vendors. It explored the effect of adding a media cue (video clip or facial photo) to the home page of an e-commerce vendor and the effect of interpersonal cues that are implicit in media cues, on users’ trust in that vendor. It further studied the effect of the culture represented by a facial photo of a Western or Saudi man on users’ trust in that vendor. The factor depth of a users’ exploration of a site (exploration depth) was found to influence the effect of media cue on user trust. On a methodological level, the study aimed to overcome part of the limitations of conventionally used trust questionnaires conducted under conditions of no financial risk by introducing trust questionnaires that were elicited under financial risk. The analyses found that there were significant differences in vendors’ trustworthiness. This supports earlier research by Fogg et al. (2001) and Steinbrueck and Schaumburg (2002), and provides support for the first hypothesis. It was found that media cues can manipulate and bias users’ judgments towards vendors’ trustworthiness based upon inspection of surface cues. Thus, this experiment demonstrated that users can perceive the trustworthiness of a vendor from the surface cues that are present in a media cue displayed as part of the user interface. Results from the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test for responses given by subjects on the vendors trust belief and trust intention showed favor for the Saudi photo first, with the Western video clip as second and the Western photo as third in the superficial exploration task, while after in-depth exploration participants showed more trusting responses to the media cue vendors’ in terms of trust, and in their declared measures of preference. An interesting and important result is that the effect of trust was improved once users explored vendors’ sites in greater depth, once they had looked further for a specific task in pages

beyond the home page. It can be interpreted that the cues that carried reliable information about a vendors’ trustworthiness were perceived, and media cues could easily influence this decision. Hence, a media cue has a long-term effect on user trust and it biases the perception of other site elements (Baron & Byrne, 2004). Rather, the additional information perceived on additional pages improved the relative impact of the media cue. In contrast to earlier studies on the effect of photos on e-commerce sites, this experiment investigated the effect of two different cultural photos (Western man and Saudi man) across two different e-commerce sites. This experiment found a bias for the presence of the Saudi photo over the Western photo in terms of trust measures in the superficial exploration task, in the-depth exploration task, and in terms of preference.

Conclusion

This experiment addressed the main research goals of the study. First, it investigated a media cue’s (facial photo or video clip) ability to influence user trust in respect of e-commerce vendors, based on surface cues that were implemented in the media cue. This goal is of high relevance, because this strategy is now being used by e-commerce vendors (especially facial photographs, but not yet video) in an attempt to increase trust and attract customers. Secondly, this research tested the effect on user trust of adding a facial photo from two different cultures (Western and Saudi) to an e-commerce vendor’s home page. It thus focused on the symbolic use of interpersonal cues. This goal, despite its importance for the development of trust in e-commerce, has not been addressed in previous research. Thirdly, the experiment was concerned with investigating how time, as an independent variable, represented by the depth of a users’ exploration of a site (exploration depth), influences the effect of a media cue on user trust by comparing a superficial exploration of the home page and additional pages with no task browsing to a subsequent in-depth exploration of a vendor’s site beyond

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74 International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008

the home page with predefined task browsing. Fourthly, most of the previous studies tested the effects of adding one photo to a mock-up of one e-commerce site. This experiment aimed to overcome this limitation by testing several photos on several semi-functional copies of existing vendors’ sites. In addition, this experiment introduced a method for measuring trust that required participants to make decisions under conditions of financial risk. This experiment found that media cues in the interface are indeed able to affect a vendor’s trustworthiness based on the surface cues it contains. A clear picture emerged regarding the effect of photos from different cultures. The experimental results found a positive effect of the media cues in the two stages of exploration—a superficial exploration and an in-depth exploration of a vendors’ Web site. These visceral reactions, however, appear to color the subsequent processing of signals, as their effect improved with the perception of additional signals from an in-depth exploration. From a methodology point of view, this experiment verified that financial risk can be used in a laboratory experiment to enhance the validity of trust research. Analyzing users’ behavior leads to a relevant outcome to e-commerce vendors since they are concerned with users’ purchase decisions. With respect to investigating the influence of the auxiliary variables on trust, such as trust disposition, system assurance, age, education level, and Internet usage, the experiment did not find any significant evidence that could support any kind of influence. Finally, based on the findings of the experiment it is suggested that Web designers and e-commerce vendors should keep in mind the following recommendations when introducing e-commerce applications in Middle Eastern countries in general, and in Saudi Arabia in particular: There is a significant effect of a media cue in B2C e-commerce Web sites. Users arriving at a site home page will decide, based upon their first impressions, whether to explore the site in more

depth or leave it and go instead to a competitor’s site. The positive, attractive impressions of a media cue can thus help e-commerce vendors in the process of converting a visitor to a customer. The findings of this experiment underline the importance of the interface as a communicator of trustworthiness. In B2C e-commerce applications it is very important to take cultural aspects into consideration when designing an e-commerce Web site. It is expected that when Web sites are appropriate and culturally sensitive, then users will have increased access to content and enhanced user experiences. Selecting photos of customer service representatives that relate to targeted markets represent an easy way to enhance the vendors’ trustworthiness.

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78 International Journal of E-Business Research, 4(4), 58-78, October-December 2008

Khalid Aldiri is a third years PhD research student at the electronic imaging and media communications

department at the University of Bradford. His main research interests lie in the area of the effect media cues as a form of social presence on trust in B2C e-commerce, and he has many publications in this field.

Dave Hobbs is currently a senior lecturer at the electronic imaging and media communications department

at the University of Bradford. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education academy (FHEA), and a member of The Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineer (IEEE), British Computing Society (MBCS). His main research interests lie in the area of virtual environments, particularly in the representation and conveying of emotion through facial expressions and gestures presented on virtual humans. Application areas include e-learning, e-commerce and collaborative work environments (CWE). This arises out of long-standing interests in computer-based self-instructional systems, particularly multimedia systems, and in the application of artificial intelligence techniques within such systems. He has publications in the fields of, virtual environments, e-learning, e-commerce and collaborative work environments (CWE), multimedia systems, and in the application of artificial intelligence techniques.

Rami Qahwaji is currently a senior lecturer at the electronic imaging and media communications depart-

ment at the University of Bradford. He is a member of the Higher Education academy (HEA), The Institution of Electrical Engineer (IEE), International Society for Computers and Their Applications (ISCA) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). His research expertise include: image processing, pattern recognition and machine learning and the design of machine vision systems. He has publications in the fields of solar imaging, medical imaging, biometrics and face recognition, morphological transforms, statistical classifiers and neural networks, security and watermarking.

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