The Impact of Trust in E-commerce - A Comparative Study in Hungary and Poland

Abstract

OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER

E-commerce trust - or the lack of thereof - is one of the key barriers of B2C e-commerce growth. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of e-commerce trust literature and research and to gather and analyze empirical data about e-trust on the Hungarian and Polish market.

METHODOLOGY

Data collection with online questionnaire in Hungary and Poland (n=631), analysis with comparative statistical tests.

MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS

The analysis of the Hungarian and Polish data confirmed that a higher level of e-trust is associated with more frequent online purchases. This suggests that investing in building e-trust can in fact promote e-commerce growth. This also validates our research questions focusing on exploring the factors influencing e-commerce trust in an East Central European context.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Our results suggest that the e-trust of potential online customers can be increased by providing the opportunity of in-store delivery and detailed product or guarantee information. The data from the slightly braver Polish market shows, that an easy-to-use webshop and the presence of customer reviews are also important enhancers of e-commerce trust - these might become more important on the Hungarian market in time.