Abstract:

On the stage of initial trust, customers visit the online store for the first time without previous experience of interactions. As the online store is the most immediate and most convenient platform of interaction between customers and the company, the e-servicescape becomes a key driver of the building of initial online trust. On the basic of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, this study proposed a research framework for testing the reciprocity between consumers’ initial trust and perceived risk and the effect on behavioral intention in the context of e-servicescape. Based on a sample of customers visiting an online store firstly, the SEM method was employed to test the theoretical model and the corresponding hypotheses. The findings confirm that all the 3 dimensions of e-servicescape — aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, financial security — affect consumers’ initial trust and perceived risk, and in turn, consumer behavioral intention. Furthermore, the study reveals that the relationship between initial trust and perceived risk is reciprocal. The results are benefit for the academic and the industry to identify consumers’ motivation in the e-servicescape, and to formulate a strategy to build consumers’ initial trust using easily manipulated factors(e.g. like e-servicescape), promoting potential customers to close the deal, turning potential customers into real customers finally.

Key words: e-Servicescape, Initial online trust, Perceived risk, Behavioral intention, Non-recursive model