Trust in transactions: Australian Internet research

Past research on the uptake of e-commerce is mostly US based, atheoretical and concerns Internet shopping, rather than encompassing the broader range of Internet financial transactions. 'Trust' has been implicated as an important predictor of consumer behaviour but its nature is unclear and data regarding its importance in comparison with other consumer, vendor, and website characteristics has been inconsistent. This investigation set out to assess the range of impediments to on-line transactions as perceived by end users in Australia, and the relative significance of the role of trust. The work was undertaken on behalf of a research consortium of public and private sector interests in Australia known as the Smart Internet Technology Cooperative Research Centre (SITCRC). The research was conducted in two stages. The pilot qualitative research stage was undertaken in Melbourne in March 2002 with focus groups where end users identified a range of impediments to Internet based financial transactions. The second stage involved a quantitative study in Melbourne in November/December 2002 of 2000 randomly selected Australian Internet. A telephone survey was used to assess a range of potential predictors of trust in on-line transaction behaviour based on the factors which emerged from the qualitative pilot study. This second study explored the role of perceptions of likelihood and seriousness of negative outcomes in Internet financial transaction behaviour. Results indicated that trust was the strongest predictor of use of the Internet for financial transactions. Demographic variables such as education, age and gender had complex relationships with on-line transaction behaviours. There are some clear pointers to major behavioural factors which have to be understood and addressed before the Internet becomes the major communications transactional platform.