Consequently, the role of trust casts some doubts on Internet consumer merchandising. Consumers are unlikely to patronize Internet stores that fail to create a sense of trust. Trust can only exist if the consumer believes that the seller has both the ability and the motivation to deliver goods and services of the quality expected by the consumer. This belief may be more difficult for an Internet merchant to engender than it is for a conventional merchant.
In Internet commerce, merchants depend on an impersonal electronic storefront to act on their behalf. Additionally, the Internet lowers the resources required to enter and exit the marketplace. Internet merchants might be considered fly-by-night as there are fewer assurances for consumers that the retailer will stay in business for some time. In traditional contexts, a consumer’s trust has been found to be affected by the seller’s investments in physical buildings, facilities, and personnel (Doney & Cannon 1997). Retailers on the Internet thus face a situation in which consumer trust might be expected to be inherently low.
