Examining the Trust-Based Consumer Decision-Making Model for Online Purchases in Pakistan

Introduction

Trust plays a pivotal role in any business transaction; however, its importance grows to many folds when the transaction is carried out electronically or online (Choi at el 2018, Hart at el 1997). The literature indicates that the importance of trust in establishing consumer purchase intention is crucial regardless the nature of the business (Gefen 2002). In online businesses the major challenge is to establish the level of trust among consumers that is necessary for successful business (Brian at el 2003). In online purchase the focus of the consumer’s trust is on the transactions process whereas in a traditional store the focus of the consumer’s trust is on the person who is dealing (Kim et al 2005). Further, the very nature of the online transaction as being “blind, borderless, can occur 24/7 and non-instantaneous” also makes it more suspicious in the eyes of the consumers (Kim, Ferrin & Rao (2008, 544). Hence, marketers use several tactics to establish trust of consumers by using social referrals, information quality and transaction security (Kong, Wang, Hajli & Featherman, 2020). Other dimensions that affect consumer purchase intention include consumers’ past experiences which may include experiential risks, experiential co-creation, experiential evaluation, experiential benefits, experiential relationship quality and future experiential intention (Wu & Cheng, 2020).

Valence framework is the seminal work of Tarpey & Peter (1975) that emphasis the positive and negative outcomes associated with the purchase decision and hence affect the decision-making process. Lately theorists like Lewin (1943) and Bilkey (1953) grounded their work in light of valance framework. Kim et al (2008) also extended the Tarpey & Peter (1975) theory and named it trust-based consumer decision making model. The model is first of its kind that has examined all the established antecedents of consumer trust i.e. Experienced based, Personality oriented, Cognitive based and Affect based. The existing literature indicates that trust has been examined from various disciplines like economic, social / institutional, behavioral / psychological, managerial / organizational, and technological, where the effort of Kim et al (2008) is the first of its kind to fill this gap.