Consumer Acceptance of Electronic Commerce : Integrating Trust and Risk with the Technology Acceptance Model

This paper aims to predict consumer acceptance of e-commerce by proposinga set of key drivers for engaging consumers in on-line transactions. The primary constructsfor capturing consumer acceptance of e-commerce are intention to transact andon-line transaction behavior. Following the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as applied toa technology-driven environment, technology acceptance model (TAM) variables (perceivedusefulness and ease of use) are posited as key drivers of e-commerce acceptance.The practical utilit y of TAM stems from the fact that e-commerce is technology-driven. Theproposed model integrates trust and perceived risk, which are incorporated given theimplicit uncertainty of the e-commerce environment. The proposed integration of the hypothesizedindependent variables is justified by placing all the variables under the nomologicalTRA structure and proposing their interrelationships. The resulting research modelis tested using data from two empirical studies. The first, exploratory study comprisesthree experiential scenarios with 103 students. The second, confirmatory study uses asample of 155 on-line consumers. Both studies strongly support the e-commerce acceptancemodel by validating the proposed hypotheses. The paper discusses the implicationsfor e-commerce theory, research, and practice, and makes several suggestions for futureresearch