Individual Level Culture Effects on Multi-Perspective iTrust in B2C E-commerce

Abstract

Consumer trust is one of the key obstacles to online vendors seeking to extend their consumers across cultures. This research identifies culture at the individual consumer level. Based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model, this study focuses on the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance culture value on privacy and security as cognition influences, joy and fear as emotional influences (Stimuli), and individualism-collectivism on social networking services as social influence and subsequently on interpersonal trust (cognitive and affect-based trust) (Organism) towards purchase intention (Response). Data were collected in Australia and the Partial least squares (PLS) approach was used to test the research model. The findings confirmed the moderating role of individual level culture on consumer's cognitive and affect-based trust in B2Ce-commerce websites with diverse degrees of uncertainty avoidance and individualism.