Why Culture Matters for the Formation of Consumer Trust? A Conceptual Study of Barriers for Realizing Real Global Exchange in Hong Kong

Abstract

The initial expectation that e-commerce technology would enable people to transact globally has not yet been fully realized. Lack of trust is one of the most frequently cited reasons for consumers not transacting online. Previous researches have addressed how culture affects the antecedents of consumer trust in e-commerce, but they do not take account of its impacts on interaction, communication, information processing and feedback system that substantially affect the expectation, reliability and trustworthiness of information on products and sellers which are exceptionally critical for bidders who base on those information to make decision. The purpose of this paper is to build up a conceptual framework for investigating the influences of culture on the formation of consumer trust, and the cultural impacts on the interaction between bidders and listers and the expectation on the role of intermediary in trust building process, which will eventually sway the purchase intention.