Although significant progress has been made towards
securing the Internet environment, many consumers remain
reluctant to participate in making on-line purchases. Cybercrime
continues to have a negative influence upon the uptake and
acceptance of E-Commerce by consumers. As a result
commercial website operators are faced with the problem of
overcoming user distrust in the systems.
The main argument put forward in this study is that a
consumer’s trust depends more upon traditional marketing
strategies than it does upon their beliefs in the security of on-line
systems. In many cases these issues have been overlooked by web
developers and vendors alike. The main conclusions of the study
indicate that website design can have a positive effect on a
consumer’s willingness to purchase from a website.
Much responsibility for reinforcing trust in consumers lies with
web developers. This can be achieved by making efforts to
educate and engender trust in visitors through the overall design
and informational content of the website itself and through the
careful selection and combination of website design components.