Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing
Purpose: The potential for e-commerce is limited by a trust deficit when traders do not interact in a physical, bricks-and-mortar context. The theory of information richness posits that equivocal interactions, such as ones requiring trust, can be facilitated through communication media that transmit...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Emerald
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40417/ |
| _version_ | 1848796051706740736 |
|---|---|
| author | Chesney, Thomas Chuah, Swee Hoon Dobele, A. Hoffmann, Robert |
| author_facet | Chesney, Thomas Chuah, Swee Hoon Dobele, A. Hoffmann, Robert |
| author_sort | Chesney, Thomas |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose: The potential for e-commerce is limited by a trust deficit when traders do not interact in a physical, bricks-and-mortar context. The theory of information richness posits that equivocal interactions, such as ones requiring trust, can be facilitated through communication media that transmit multiple cues interactively. We examine the potential of information-rich virtual worlds to reduce this trust deficit compared with more traditional web-based e-tailing environments.
Design/Methodology: Rather than focusing on stated intentions we adopt an experimental approach to measure behaviour. Participants receive performance-related financial incentives to perform trust games in different information-rich treatments that represent three retail environments: a physical environment representing bricks-and-mortar trade, an electronic environment representing web-based online retailing and a virtual environment representing virtual world retail.
Findings: We find that the two dimensions of trust significantly differ between the treatments. In particular, as hypothesised, both trustingness and trustworthiness are higher in the virtual than in the electronic environment. However, contrary to our hypotheses, physical trade is not associated with greater trust than virtual trade.
Implications: We extend previous research by demonstrating how the information richness of the virtual world interface can promote e-commerce by deepening trust between trading partners. Our research also complements existing work that approaches product and service interfaces through the lens of servicescapes. The findings also contribute towards the development of services marketing practice and the design of e-commerce environments. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:41:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-40417 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:41:50Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Emerald |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-404172020-05-04T18:42:53Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40417/ Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing Chesney, Thomas Chuah, Swee Hoon Dobele, A. Hoffmann, Robert Purpose: The potential for e-commerce is limited by a trust deficit when traders do not interact in a physical, bricks-and-mortar context. The theory of information richness posits that equivocal interactions, such as ones requiring trust, can be facilitated through communication media that transmit multiple cues interactively. We examine the potential of information-rich virtual worlds to reduce this trust deficit compared with more traditional web-based e-tailing environments. Design/Methodology: Rather than focusing on stated intentions we adopt an experimental approach to measure behaviour. Participants receive performance-related financial incentives to perform trust games in different information-rich treatments that represent three retail environments: a physical environment representing bricks-and-mortar trade, an electronic environment representing web-based online retailing and a virtual environment representing virtual world retail. Findings: We find that the two dimensions of trust significantly differ between the treatments. In particular, as hypothesised, both trustingness and trustworthiness are higher in the virtual than in the electronic environment. However, contrary to our hypotheses, physical trade is not associated with greater trust than virtual trade. Implications: We extend previous research by demonstrating how the information richness of the virtual world interface can promote e-commerce by deepening trust between trading partners. Our research also complements existing work that approaches product and service interfaces through the lens of servicescapes. The findings also contribute towards the development of services marketing practice and the design of e-commerce environments. Emerald 2017-04-24 Article PeerReviewed Chesney, Thomas, Chuah, Swee Hoon, Dobele, A. and Hoffmann, Robert (2017) Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing. Journal of Services Marketing, 31 (3). ISSN 0887-6045 information richness trust e-commerce and v-commerce virtual worlds experimental design http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JSM-02-2015-0099 doi:10.1108/JSM-02-2015-0099 doi:10.1108/JSM-02-2015-0099 |
| spellingShingle | information richness trust e-commerce and v-commerce virtual worlds experimental design Chesney, Thomas Chuah, Swee Hoon Dobele, A. Hoffmann, Robert Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| title | Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| title_full | Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| title_fullStr | Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| title_short | Information richness and trust in V-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| title_sort | information richness and trust in v-commerce: implications for services marketing |
| topic | information richness trust e-commerce and v-commerce virtual worlds experimental design |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40417/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40417/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40417/ |