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Does Involvement Matter in Online Shopping Satisfaction and Trust? Sonia San Martín University of Burgos, Spain
Carmen Camarero and Rebeca San José University of Valladolid, Spain
ABSTRACT
Consumer involvement in online shopping can play a moderating role when explaining Web site effect on satisfaction and trust. This study proposes a set of hypotheses based on the Elaboration Likeli- hood Model (ELM) of persuasion, a conceptual model that explains the formation of individual attitudes that are prompted by central and peripheral cues. The model proposes the use of central signals when the buyer is highly involved and peripheral signals when the buyer is less involved. Nevertheless, the results of this study would suggest that these relationships are not so clearly defined in the case of online buying, which implies that certain assumptions associated with the ELM need to be revised to take the particularities of the online context into account. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
INTRODUCTION
The influence of consumer involvement on individual responses to company marketing actions has been widely studied in marketing literature. According to Andrews, Durvasula, and Akhter (1990), the “involvement direction” refers
Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 28(2): 145–167 (February 2011) View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20384
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to the target of the involvement, such as an advertisement (i.e., Laczniak, Muehling, & Grossbart, 1989; Wright, 1973; Zaichkowsky, 1985, 1994) or a prod- uct (i.e., Bloch, 1984; Lastovicka & Gardner, 1989; Zaichkowsky, 1985, 1994). Researchers have also examined responses to an advertisement or product in online environments (Cho, 1999; Cho & Leckenby, 1999; Hershberger, 2003; McMillan, Hwang, & Lee, 2003; Yang et al., 2006). The main contribution of this research lies in the empirical study of a specific involvement target that to date has hardly been explored: involvement with online shopping.
This paper offers evidence on consumer involvement in online shopping and its role in the generation of consumer satisfaction and trust. In line with signaling theory, the generation of satisfaction and trust in an online context depends on the different signals that firms can send out to the market in order to be cho- sen as a buying place by the consumer. Some of these mechanisms, which the consumer can use to infer the quality of the product or the performance of the store and which affect satisfaction and trust, are more objective than oth- ers and stimulate an individual’s cognitive or rational responses. Others are of a subjective nature and stimulate emotional responses in the course of an indi- vidual’s online shopping experience. However, the individual’s involvement in online shopping moderates the impact of these signals on satisfaction or trust. To explain these effects, this study applies the assumptions of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion (ELM) in an online buying context and verifies their validity, contributing thereby to existing literature on electronic commerce.
It is important to address involvement toward the online channel because of the relative novelty and expansion of the Internet as a shopping channel, as well as its peculiarities that make online purchases very different from those made through traditional channels. As things stand, factors that could help to explain an individual’s online behavior still need further study. Unfortunately, academic researchers tend to place excessive emphasis on the study of consumer responses to products, without taking into account other dimensions that also affect the individual’s online shopping activities, such as consumer involvement with online shopping. In summary, this study sets out to (1) test the validity of the ELM as applied to online shopping; (2) analyze involvement in an electronic context (involvement with online shopping); (3) study involvement as a moder- ating variable in the generation of online satisfaction of trust from cognitive and experiential signals that online vendors send to the market; (4) test an empirical model with the help of structural equations modeling and multigroup analysis to understand the moderating effect of involvement.
THEORY AND HYPOTHESES
Involvement Toward Online Buying and the ELM
The conceptualization of involvement has long been an important and contro- versial topic for marketing researchers (Andrews, Durvasula, & Akhter, 1990). It is a cross-disciplinary concept taken from social psychology (Sherif & Cantril, 1947). Krugman defined involvement (1965) in the context of communication– persuasion as “the number of connections, conscious bridging experiences or personal references per minute that the subject makes between the content of the persuasive stimulus and the content of his own life” (p. 584). Twenty years
DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
147
later, Zaichkowsky (1985, p. 32) defined involvement as “a person’s perceived rel- evance of the object based upon inherent needs, values, and interests.” After revising different definitions of involvement, Laaksonen (1994) categorizes these definitions into three groups:
1. Cognitive-based approaches: Involvement is the perceived personal impor- tance and relevance of an object (product or activity). This is a psycho- logical tie between an individual and a stimulus object (product or activity).
2. Individual-state approaches: Involvement is the inherent potential of a situation to elicit concern on the part of individuals for their behavior in that situation. This type of involvement does not require personal relevance or the arousal of central values for it to exist.
3. Response-based approaches: These are points of view related to informa- tion processing (pp. 25–69).
This paper adopts the first and third of the above-mentioned approaches to study purchasing over the Internet. Shopping is an activity, so involvement with shopping can be defined as an enduring motivational propensity to engage in shopping (Berdagadaa, Faure, & Perrien, 1995). Involvement with online shop- ping will therefore be considered here as an enduring involvement. According to the first view and the involvement definitions of Celsi and Olson (1988) and Zaichkowsky (1985), involvement toward online shopping refers to the degree of personal relevance or the interest of online shopping activities to the individual. This state of relevance or interest toward the object (purchases over the Internet) is relatively stable and durable (Celsi & Olson, 1988; Rothschild & Houston, 1980). In contrast, the second approach refers to situational involvement: It is a more temporary state that is a consequence of exposure to a stimulus or a specific situation (for example, ad exposure) and occurs at a specific moment, regardless of the degree of its personal relevance or the enduring dimension. It is not intended to study this involvement dimension here. Finally, the study adopts the third point of view (the response-based approaches) to explain the effects of involvement in satisfaction and trust formation.
The importance of involvement in consumer behavior is especially motivated by its effect on information processing when the individual faces the object of implication (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983), which, in a transactional con- text, can generate different purchase processes (Dholakia, 2001). One theory that explains the involvement effect on individual information processing is the ELM. In the words of Petty and Cacioppo (1986), “the ELM provides a fairly comprehensive framework for organizing, categorizing, and understanding the basic process underlying the effectiveness of persuasive communications” (p. 3). Elaboration is the process of persuasion or formation of the individual’s attitude toward the object of involvement. This process extends as a continuum between two alternative forms of persuasion: the central and the peripheral routes. The individual’s involvement determines the elaboration likelihood. The central route occurs when the individual’s involvement with the issue is high, resulting in an elevated motivation to process (or elaborate) the information. In this situation, changes in attitude take place through a deep elaboration of every relevant argument related to the involvement object and a complete integration of this elaboration into a person’s attitudinal schema. These strong arguments are bits of information contained in a message advocating a certain position.
SAN MARTÍN, CAMARERO, AND SAN JOSÉ Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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They are relevant to a person’s understanding of the true merits of that same position and are termed central cues. The peripheral route occurs when the indi- vidual’s involvement is low, and the consequence is a low motivation to elabo- rate. Rather than through deep elaboration, the persuasion process occurs by simple inferences of the validity of the message in the given situation. Periph- eral cues (or peripheral signals) are terms given to attitudes that are prompted either by positive or by negative signals or cues. They relate less to the specific object of the implication and more to the context in which the persuasion takes place or to the execution of the stimulus or persuasive communication. In brief, these two types of persuasion differ both with regard to the direction of the pro- cessing (certain cues determine the formation of the individual’s attitudes) and with regard to the depth or intensity of the cognitive activity that is developed during the persuasion process.
A number of authors have applied the ELM to the study of communication strategies and commercial transactions in the context of the Internet (Cho, 1999; Chang & Thorson, 2004; Hershberger, 2003; Karson & Fisher, 2005; Karso & Korgaonkar, 2001). Directly related to the topic of the current study, researchers in two recent studies analyzed the formation of satisfaction (Rodgers, Negash, & Suk, 2005) and trust (Yang et al., 2006) in online purchases made under the postulates of the ELM. Rodgers, Negash, and Suk (2005) justified the use of ELM because satisfaction is a kind of postpurchase attitude (Oliver, 1996). As other authors state, building up trust between the organization and the indi- vidual is a critical factor in e-tailer success (Hoffman, Novak, & Peralta, 1999; Yang et al., 2006). For this reason, e-tailers should try to persuade their target that they are trustworthy in order to motivate individuals to purchase over the Internet. Following the arguments outlined above, this study analyzes the for- mation of consumer satisfaction and trust toward Web sites as a persuasion process in which individuals change their attitudes.
The Moderating Effect of Involvement on Consumer Satisfaction and Trust
Satisfaction and trust in online contexts are essential to maintain relationships with consumers. The concept of satisfaction implies the fulfillment of expectations as well as a positive and affective state based on previous outcomes in the rela- tionship with the Web site. Trust implies a willingness on the part of the consumer to accept vulnerability in the transaction and the belief that the firm will fulfill its promises and will not exploit that vulnerability to its own benefit (Chouk & Perrien, 2004; Ranaweera, McDougall, & Bansal, 2005). Several works (Gefen, 2000; Harris & Goode, 2004) have analyzed the key role of trust and its relation to the evolution of electronic commerce and to loyalty to a Web site.
Consumers interpret Web site characteristics to infer product quality and ven- dor performance and to build up satisfaction and trust. Some of these charac- teristics are more objective and affect the individual’s cognitive perception of the Web site. These Web site indicators include the warranty; the Web site’s security and privacy policies; services such as home delivery, customer service, or collec- tion services and refunds on faulty products (Burke, 2002); detailed and objec- tive product information (Burke, 2002; Fiore, 2002); promotions or the product range (Dawson, Minocha, & Petre, 2003; Vijayasarathy & Jones, 2001). Other characteristics, however, are related to the individual’s experience with the
DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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Web site, such as ease of browsing and other user-friendly aspects of the Web site (Ranaweera, McDougall, & Bansal, 2005); interactivity (Ranaweera, McDougall, & Bansal, 2005; Yadav & Varadarajan, 2005); attractiveness of the design (Ranaweera, McDougall, & Bansal, 2005; Szymanski & Hise, 2000); and at- mosphere (Burke, 2002; Vrechopoulos et al., 2004). In a similar vein, Lee and Overby (2004) differentiate between experimental value for online shoppers— entertainment, escapism, visual appeal, and the interactivity that accompanies online shopping—and utilitarian value, which entails the assessment of func- tional benefits (price and time savings, excellent service, and selection).
In addition, Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003) suggest online customers have two types of behavior: experience-based behavior (purchases for fun and enjoyment, which are more closely related to emotions) and goal-oriented or utilitarian shop- ping (task-oriented, efficient, rational, and deliberate shopping, which is more closely related to cognition). Therefore, the current study differentiates between cog- nitive and experiential signals. More specifically, in this proposal, cognitive signals comprise service quality, warranty, and the Web site’s security and privacy poli- cies, while experiential signals include Web site design and aesthetics and the interactive experience. Both cognition and emotions are present when talking about trust (Young, 2006). The influence of these signals on buyer trust may be direct or indirect. On the one hand, cognitive signals allow the buyer to trust the firm’s capacity and good will. Moreover, such characteristics may also affect trust indirectly: Once individuals have purchased, the perception of these char- acteristics increases their satisfaction and consequently their trust in the firm. On the other hand, experiential signals only have an effect on trust once they have been experienced and have produced a positive effect on satisfaction (Lee & Overby, 2004).
According to the postulates of the ELM, the most immediate consequence of the level of involvement in online shopping are evident from the consumer’s evaluations and responses to purchases on a specific Web site. When a visit is made to a Web site, a higher or lower involvement in purchases over the Inter- net affects the types of signals that the individual is likely to consider (and the intensity with which they are evaluated) in the formation of satisfaction and trust toward that Web site. Therefore, cognitive and experiential signals will have a different impact on satisfaction and trust according to the degree of the con- sumer’s involvement in online buying.
Cognitive Signals. Service quality. A firm’s effort to provide a better service through a wide assortment of products, a good price–quality ratio, a good deliv- ery service, and extensive, detailed information on the product and services or a greater customization of them (Trocchia & Janda, 2003) indicate service quality in an online context. In several cases that include online contexts, the literature has highlighted the relation between service quality and satisfaction (Feinberg & Kadam, 2002; Ha, 2004; Ribbink et al., 2004; Lee & Overby, 2004; Lee & Lin, 2005; Park & Kim, 2006; Rodgers, Nagash, & Suk, 2005), as well as the relation between service quality and trust (Sultan & Mooraj, 2001; Harris & Goode, 2004; Gummerus et al., 2004; Ribbink et al., 2004; Chen, Gillenson, & Sherrell, 2002).
Warranty. The warranty shows a firm’s commitment, not only linked to serv- ice quality, but also to the fulfillment of consumer expectations. Return-policy leniency is one way to foster trust in remote purchase environments, including online shopping (Tan, 1999; Wood, 2000; Wang, Pallister, & Foxall, 2006).
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Security and privacy policies. Security and privacy of online transactions is one of the main signals that an online store can send to assist customer deci- sion making. Customers with a greater awareness of security and data privacy are more likely to use e-commerce (Wang, Pallister, & Foxall, 2006) and to develop greater trust (Yousafzai, Pallister, & Foxall, 2005). Security and privacy poli- cies also foster customer satisfaction. As perceptions of security and privacy risk decrease, so satisfaction with the information service increases (Ha, 2004; Park & Kim, 2006).
To sum up, Web sites should be able to communicate service quality, the war- ranty, and online security and privacy policies to customers in order to ensure their satisfaction and win their trust. The firm should send out these signals in objective and relevant information that provides detailed descriptions on all aspects that relate to online buying on its Web site.
As previously mentioned, when highly involved with an issue or an object, the individual follows the route to central attitude change (positive or negative) and engages in objective, careful, and deep processing of those relevant arguments or central signals present in the persuasive communication. In their experi- mental work, the authors of the ELM considered that these strong arguments or central signals are assimilated with cognitive, informative, or rational con- tents directly related to the issue or the object of the involvement (Cacioppo & Petty, 1989; Cacioppo, Petty, & Morris, 1983; Petty & Cacioppo, 1979; Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983). In this study, service quality, warranty, and secu- rity and privacy represent relevant arguments and convincing information that are directly related to the involvement target: online shopping. Thus, these cog- nitive signals act as central cues—an assertion that is supported by some authors in an online context, although only from a theoretical point of view. In fact, according to the classification of Kim and Benbasat (2003), these cognitive sig- nals (among others) are trust-related arguments in Internet stores. Subse- quently, those individuals who are highly involved, as opposed to less involved, in online shopping process and center their attention more on the cognitive sig- nals emanating from the Web site, and the central processing route is active in the formation of online satisfaction and trust. Hence:
H1: The effect of cognitive signals [quality of service (H1a), warranty (H1b), and security (H1c)] on satisfaction is greater in consumers who are highly involved in online shopping than in consumers who are less involved.
H2: The effect of cognitive signals [quality of service (H2a), warranty (H2b), and security (H2c)] on trust is greater in consumers who are highly involved in online shopping than in those who are less involved.
Experiential Signals. Web site design. Communication with online cus- tomers is largely through the Web site; therefore, its appearance and structure are of great importance (Bramall, Schoefer, & McKechnie, 2004; Gummerus et al., 2004). The design characteristics of the Web site (browsing structure, informative contents, and graphic style) have an impact on the quality evalua- tions of the service the electronic channel provides and on consumer satisfaction (Montoya-Weiss, Voss, & Grewal, 2003; Feinberg & Kadam, 2002). Moreover, store layout, organizational features, and ease of use may reduce the cost of searching and information processing time for consumers, minimizing the effort
DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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needed to perform choice and purchasing tasks (Hoque & Lose, 1999). Recent empirical studies have found that Web site design factors are strong predictors of customer satisfaction (Lee & Lin, 2005; Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2003; Park & Kim, 2006).
Interactivity. Interactivity refers to the capability of Web sites to generate dynamic outputs based on customer queries and searches. With enhanced inter- activity, the Web site can provide online shoppers with the opportunity to exchange product information, reviews, and ideas freely (Hoffman & Novak, 1996). A well-designed interactive Web site could generate greater satisfaction by providing greater control to customers to personalize the information search (Shankar, Smith, & Rangaswamy, 2003). According to Lee and Overby (2004), interactivity provides an experiential value to the customers (affective and social stimulation), which enriches the total Internet shopping experience (Cheng & Chang, 2003) and contributes to customer satisfaction.
Experiential signals can influence the consumer’s online satisfaction, although in this case different effects are likely to be a function of the degree of the indi- vidual’s involvement in online shopping. Peripheral cues refer to those stimuli that can affect attitudes without processing the strong arguments of the mes- sage and that can persuade individuals without their having to make a pro- cessing effort (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). These cues can be visual or verbal and may be part of the characteristics of the source of the message—for example, the use of celebrity endorsers (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983) and the attrac- tiveness of the speaker (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981). Peripheral cues differ from message arguments because they are not issue or product relevant, and they relate more to affective states or emotions experienced by the individuals in the context of persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981), such as the interactive experi- ence. In the online context, design variables act as peripheral cues (Cho, 1999; Hershberger, 2003; San José, Gutiérrez, & Gutiérrez, 2007). Thus, experiential signals are peripheral cues that will affect the formation of the attitudes in sit- uations of low involvement. In consequence:
H3: The effect of experiential signals [design of the Web site (H3a) and inter- activity experience (H3b)] on satisfaction is lower on consumers who are highly involved in online shopping than on those who are less involved.
Satisfaction as an Antecedent of Trust. The overall degree of pleasure or contentment felt by consumers in previous exchanges (resulting from the ability of the service to fulfill their desires, expectations, and needs in relation to the service) is an important antecedent of consumer attitude (Oliver, 1980) and trust (Ravald & Grönroos, 1996; Selnes, 1998). Ribbink et al. (2004) and Park and Stoel (2005) support the positive influence of satisfaction on trust in the online context.
The moderating role of involvement in the effect of satisfaction on trust is twofold. On the one hand, according to the affective dimension of the concept of satisfaction, satisfaction acts as a sort of affect transfer, influencing the way in which trust works. In other words, the peripheral route is followed, and the effect of satisfaction on trust will be greater for the individual who is less involved in online shopping. On the other hand, satisfaction is also an attitudinal consumer response resulting from the individual’s processing and experience. According to the ELM (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), attitudes that change mostly as a result
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of processing issue-relevant arguments (central route or high-involvement sit- uations) show greater durability, greater predictability of behavior, and greater resistance to counter-persuasion than attitudes that change mostly as a result of peripheral cues (peripheral route or low-involvement situations). More specif- ically, satisfaction will reinforce trust in the case of higher involvement in online shopping. Therefore, considering the various factors that justify the greater importance of satisfaction over and above trust in contexts of high and low involvement, the influence of satisfaction on trust will not be affected by either high or low involvement; therefore:
H4: The influence of satisfaction on trust will remain constant regardless of whether an individual has a high or a low level of involvement in online shopping.
METHOD AND RESULTS
Sample and Data Collection
The information for the empirical study was gathered through a questionnaire given to online shoppers. Questionnaires were sent to several cyber-centers (both public and private centers with Internet access). Several regional devel- opment agents and cyber-center supervisors collaborated in the data collection process, enabling us to distribute and collect the questionnaires in various Span- ish regions. The agents and supervisors were asked to deliver the question- naires to those users of the cyber-centers who had previously stated that they buy products and services over the Internet. The survey produced a sample of 533 individuals. Several questionnaires were eliminated due to incompleteness or wrong answers, and the final sample comprised 457 individuals, the compo- sition of which was as follows: 53.5% were male, 46.5% female; 51% were younger than 24 years old; 29.3% were between 25 and 34; 12.3% between 35 and 44; and 7.3% were older than 45. The educational background of respondents was as follows: 0.8% had no schooling, 4.0% had completed primary education, 17.5% secondary education, 16.1% held vocational qualifications, and 61.5% university qualifications. This sample was representative of the Spanish Internet user pro- file, according to information provided by AECEM (2007). Internet users selected for the sample had all confirmed that they were online shoppers. The survey group was asked to name a Web site on which they had shopped at least once. The respondents were then asked to evaluate the selected Web site in terms of satisfaction in shopping and trust. Although consumers chose the Web sites that they preferred, that they trusted, and with which they were most satisfied (which reduces the range of scale variation), one must remember that respondents were selected because they were online shoppers, hence the use of a particular data collection method. In 2006, not as many people bought online in Spain (27% of Internet users had bought online at least once in 2006; AECEM, 2006), which explains why information was collected from cyber-centers and the respondents were asked to evaluate their favorite Web site. Despite their having a preferred Web site, Internet users in the sample had less experience of online shopping than they do nowadays. The most frequently cited Web sites corresponded to leisure services, followed by travel Web sites.
DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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Variables Measurement
Variables were measured on a 5-point Likert scale, taking different research studies as references and undertaking the necessary adaptation. The Web site attributes proposed in the model are service quality, security and privacy poli- cies, warranty, Web site design, and level of interactivity. The measures for these variables are based on studies by Burke (2002), Montoya-Weiss, Voss, and Grewal (2003), Harris and Goode (2004), Ramus and Nielsen (2005), Ranaweera, McDougall, and Bansal (2005), and Yadav and Varadarajan (2005). These scales are formative insofar as each refers to the different aspects encompassed by the construct.
For satisfaction, trust, and involvement, reflective scales were used. Satis- faction was measured using a six-item scale based on Oliver’s proposal (1990) and adapted to online purchasing using Montoya-Weiss, Voss, and Grewal (2003), Bennett, Härtel, and McColl-Kennedy (2005), and Harris and Goode (2004) as references. Trust was measured on an eight-item scale based on the Ganesan (1994) and Doney and Cannon (1997) scales and was adapted to an online con- text following the proposals of Harris and Goode (2004) and Roy, Dewit, and Aubert (2001). Finally, the scale for involvement has previously been used by Keaveney and Parthsarathy (2001) and Zinkhan and Locander (1988) and is regarded as especially appropriate for technology-related areas such as the Internet. Although the Keaveney and Parthsarathy (2001) scale includes items that measure involvement, interest, expertise, and experience with the prod- uct or situation, this study considers only items that relate to consumer involve- ment and interest, that is, the dimension of the involvement analyzed. The Appendix shows the measures of all variables in more detail.
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) upholds the convergent validity of these scales. Although the chi-square statistic is significant—conceivably as a result of the size of the sample—the lambda values and the remaining goodness-of-fit indicators support the convergent validity of these scales [�2(51) � 214.443, p � 0.000; CFI � 0.979; RMSEA � 0.078; NFI � 0.973; GFI � 0.935; AGFI � 0.901]. Finally, the extracted variance of each variable exceeds the value of its squared correlation with the other variables (Table 1), which justifies the dis- criminant validity of the scales (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988).
Model Estimation
The next step in the study was to estimate the effect of company and Web site characteristics on satisfaction and trust and the moderating effect of involvement by means of a multigroup analysis. For formative scales, an index was created from the indicators, and the reflective scales were reduced to a factor. In the case of involvement, two groups were formed: online buyers with high and low involvement. Buyers with high involvement are those with values of involvement higher than the mean plus the standard deviation; buyers with low levels of involvement are those with values lower than the mean minus the standard deviation. Therefore, after eliminating central values, the sample was reduced to 94 high-involvement buyers in the online context and 109 low-involvement buyers. For the reflective scales (satisfaction and trust), measurement invari- ance between the low- and the high-involvement buyers was tested by simul- taneously estimating parallel confirmatory factor analysis across samples.
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DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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A chi-square difference test was conducted between a constrained and an uncon- strained model; the difference between these two measurement models was not significant for either metric invariance or factor invariance (Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1998).
Estimation of the moderating effect of involvement in the model involved a multigroup path analysis, which included different coefficients for each group (within-group standardized solution). The results are shown in Table 2. To test the differences across groups, each path was sequentially tested, and the con- strained model (the fixed structural parameter) was then compared with the non- constrained model. Significant cross-group differences for each coefficient are indicated below.
These results offer some evidence on the proposed hypotheses and show that, in this case, certain assumptions of the ELM were not fulfilled in the online context when considering buyer involvement. First, the effect of cognitive sig- nals on satisfaction is different for high- and low-involvement consumers. As proposed in H1a, service quality has a greater effect on satisfaction for high- involvement consumers than for low-involvement consumers. However, the effect of security and privacy policies on satisfaction (H1c) is similar in both groups. Warranty has a positive and significant effect on satisfaction for low-involvement consumers, whereas the effect is nonsignificant for high-involvement consumers (H1b). Therefore, hypothesis H1 was only partially upheld.
The results support the idea that two cognitive signals have a greater effect on trust when the individual is highly involved in online buying: service qual- ity (H2a) and warranty (H2b). Security and privacy policies (H2c) are significant in both cases, although the effect is greater in the case of low-involvement con- sumers.
The results do not support the idea proposed in H3. The design of the Web site has a small effect on satisfaction, but no significant differences are found between high- and low-involvement consumers (H3a is not upheld). Interactive experi- ence, however, has no effect on trust when the consumer is highly involved in online buying, and this effect is negative for consumers with low involvement (H3b is not upheld). Hence, in the presence of other cognitive signals and an attractive design, the interactive experience has no additional effect on satis- faction, and statistically, the effect becomes negative.
Finally, the results support H4. No significant differences between high- and low- involvement consumers are evident with regard to the effect of satisfaction on trust.
DISCUSSION
This study has applied the assumptions of the ELM to explain the formation of online satisfaction and trust and has analyzed the moderating effect of involve- ment in the online buying context. Thus, the investigation has sought to delve more deeply into the moderating influence of involvement in the generation of online satisfaction and trust by considering cognitive and experiential signals that online vendors send out through their Web site to the market. At the same time, an additional contribution of the study lies in the consideration of involve- ment with online shopping, not in the offline context as most studies have done (Berdagadaa, Faure, & Perrien, 1995; Lord, Lee, & Sauer 1994; Ratchford, 1987).
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DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
157
As Broderick and Mueller (1999) suggest, involvement is a compound construct that requires a continuous critical analysis to be understood.
Following the ELM and signaling theory, this study differentiates cognitive signals (service quality, warranty, and security and privacy policies), which would affect satisfaction and trust through a central route, and experiential signals (interactive experience and Web site design), which would affect satis- faction through a peripheral route. The central route would be more relevant in the case of high-involvement consumers who make a deeper and a more conscious analysis of the information provided by a firm that is directly related to online buying. However, the peripheral route, according to the ELM, should be more important for low-involvement consumers, who pay less attention to central sig- nals and are more attentive to other factors related to online buying. Table 3 sum- marizes the hypotheses proposed in this study and distinguishes between the ELM predictions for the traditional context and the results obtained in this par- ticular online context.
As predicted by the ELM, the results of the study indicate that the central route is more relevant in the case of high-involvement buyers when explaining the formation of trust. However, this result is not so evident in the case of con- sumer satisfaction with a Web site. Service quality has a greater effect on sat- isfaction for high-involvement consumers than for low-involvement consumers, but the other central signals (warranty and security and privacy policies) are also relevant for low-involvement buyers. The warranty effect can act as a moti- vating factor (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959) that influences the sat- isfaction of buyers with low levels of involvement (with less experience in online buying); while it is a hygiene factor for more involved buyers (more experienced buyers), it is expected and does not therefore affect their satisfaction. A feasi- ble explanation for the greater effect of warranty and security and privacy poli- cies on the satisfaction of individuals with low levels of involvement is found in the concept of involvement. Celsi and Olson (1988) proposed that the origin of involvement lies in stable and durable cognitive structures, such as acquired knowledge and accumulated experiences, and in the peculiarities of the new channels. Thus, highly involved individuals have more online buying experi- ence (and perceive less risk), and they are highly involved with online shop- ping, simply because they trust online channels. Although privacy and security with transactions depends on the Web site, these signals are also linked to the online channel. On the contrary, less-involved individuals are likely to be less experienced in online shopping, perhaps because they perceive the online chan- nel as having higher levels of risk. Thus, although the effect of security and pri- vacy policies or warranty on satisfaction is significant for both high- and low-involvement consumers, the effect might be greater for low-involvement consumers than it is for high-involvement consumers, as the latter manifest a generally positive attitude toward security and privacy and warranty in the online channel, a positive attitude which is transferred to each specific Web site. In short, the novelty and risk associated with the Internet can influence the effect of certain cognitive signals, particularly those more related to channel characteristics. For certain products, the warranty and, especially, the security and privacy policies depend on the channel peculiarities. Such signals are per- ceived in different ways by consumers in offline or “well-known” traditional channels and in online or “new” channels. For this reason, the traditional ELM appears inadequate when explaining the effect of these cues in the online context
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DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
159
(Table 3). In contrast, the service–quality signal relates more to the product and is less dependent on the buying channel, so it behaves in a similar way in both the online and the traditional or offline context.
Another interesting result is that cognitive signals seem to be more impor- tant than experiential signals. In fact, the ELM does not perfectly explain the effect of experiential signals on satisfaction. As no significant differences appear in the effect of Web site design on satisfaction, both high- and low-involvement buyers appear to follow the peripheral route. Moreover, in relation to the inter- active experience, the findings do not offer any evidence as to their effect on satisfaction. This unexpected effect is not so new: Critics of the ELM suggest the possibility of valuing the peripheral cues in a context of high involvement and not only when the individual’s involvement is low. Several authors defend this idea (Bitner & Obermiller, 1985; Chaiken & Maheswaran, 1994; Lord, Lee, & Sauer, 1995). Lord, Lee, and Sauer (1995) name this effect the combined influ- ence hypothesis of the central and peripheral routes. This study therefore lends support to research by Cho (1999) into the Modified Elaboration Likelihood Model (MELM), and by Hershberger (2003) into the electronic Elaboration Like- lihood Model (eELM). Following research in the field of advertising, these authors defend the need to reformulate the ELM so as to take into account the influence of peripheral cues on the satisfaction of high-involvement individuals (or the com- bined influence of central and peripheral routes in high-involvement contexts) and to encompass the peculiarities of the online context. In light of the above, it appears that it would be useful to reformulate the ELM and apply it not only to decision making related to advertising but also to online buying.
Marketing literature largely supports the impact of satisfaction with previ- ous experiences on trust. In this study, no differences have been found between high- and low-involvement buyers. Theoretically, satisfaction is the result of both a cognitive and a conscious evaluation, which is to say, a central route toward the generation of trust as well as an emotional evaluation, which is a peripheral route. Whatever the origin of satisfaction (cognitive or experiential evaluation), the result has a great influence on trust for both high- and low- involvement buyers. Literature on the link between satisfaction and trust is abundant, and this study on the online context confirms the results of other comparable studies (Ravald & Grönroos, 1996; Selnes, 1998; Ribbink et al., 2004; Park & Stoel, 2005).
One of the contributions of this work is its investigation into the process by which online contexts generate satisfaction and trust in consumers with dif- ferent degrees of involvement. In online sales, the creation of trust is basic in order for electronic commerce to develop further, due to both the large number of alternatives and the high risk perceived by potential buyers, which inhibit vir- tual purchases. For this reason, aspects such as service quality and Web site design, as well as satisfaction with previous results, may be decisive when fos- tering consumer trust. These signals, however, could be more or less effective according to the level of involvement of the consumer in online buying. In this sense, the study offers an explanation based on the ELM and demonstrates its partial validity when explaining information processing by the consumer in the context of online commerce.
Online providers can engender consumer satisfaction and especially trust by offering good service quality, product warranties, security and privacy policies, and an appealing Web site. However, the impact of these activities will differ
SAN MARTÍN, CAMARERO, AND SAN JOSÉ Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
160
according to each consumer’s level of involvement in online commerce. Hence, vendors should design different strategies for the different consumers they want to direct to. Firms could include a range of different Web landing pages in their Web sites depending on whether the subjects accessing their Web sites engage to a greater or lesser degree in online purchasing and on their level of involve- ment with the particular Web site in question. For example, for registered users (if the Web site affords such a possibility) or for those with a known IP (those who have previously accessed the Web site), in so far as they might be repre- sentative of high involvement, they might be redirected to a Web page stress- ing the quality of the services provided and the available warranty. This will not only make individuals satisfied with their user experience of the Web but also will lead them to trust the Web site, a key factor in the current financial cli- mate. For new users (such as those accessing the firm’s site for the first time), given that subjects may initially evidence less involvement, they could be redi- rected to a landing page which describes in clear and linear terms the firm’s security and privacy policies in addition to the quality of the service and the warranty terms. Contrary to what might be assumed, subjects displaying little involvement do not appear to value a highly interactive Web experience positively; quite the opposite may be the case. In other words, the less the need for inter- activity, the greater seems to be the satisfaction. This might be due to a high num- ber of hyperlinks complicating navigation which, for less experienced individuals, could give rise to dissatisfaction and, in line with flow theory (Hoffman & Novak, 1996), lead them to quit the search. Furthermore, landing pages should be well designed and coherent with the other Web site pages and the firm’s corporate image. However, it does not seem necessary to develop differing presentation for- mats depending on the kind of user accessing the Web.
Consumers who are more interested and more involved in the products and services offered online and more involved in online environments will especially value and trust cognitive signals, such as service quality and warranty, whereas the experiential signals, especially the design of the Web site, will be less rele- vant as a signal, but equally important for both high- and low-involvement con- sumers. Therefore, when online vendors address highly involved buyers, they should offer good service quality and security and privacy policies, whereas war- ranty and design of the Web site seem to be more effective when addressing less-involved buyers. Irrespective of the degree of involvement of the targeted buyers, satisfaction with previous experiences is once again revealed to be the main way of stimulating online trust, whereas interactivity is not important in engendering online trust and satisfaction. Thus, any online provider should be aware of the effect of these signals not only on trust, but also on the buyer’s sat- isfaction. Finally, most signals analyzed in this study behave in a different way than in an offline context. On the contrary, service quality appears capable of generating trust and satisfaction in both offline and online buying contexts.
One of the limitations of this research is that it considers different Web sites, which might imply heterogeneity in results. Besides, some of the confidence lev- els are low, despite being significant. Moreover, “preferred Web sites” are eval- uated, which reduces the range of variables. Further extensions of this work could include comparisons of the type of product or service purchased or stud- ies limited to only one type of product or service. This study does not include the influence of culture because the sample includes only Spanish people. Includ- ing other countries and making cross-cultural comparisons would also be an
DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
161
interesting direction for further research. Web site and company characteristics have been measured by consumer perceptions, which by themselves could never reflect an objective view of the Web site. The experimental manipulation of Web sites and Web site attributes would certainly be of interest.
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The authors would like to thank the support of the Consejería de Educación from Junta de Castilla y León (Spain) under grant BU006A07. The authors are also indebted to P&M reviewers for their valuable comments.
Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to: Carmen Camarero, Associate Pro- fessor, Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Valladolid, Spain, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Avenida Valle de Esgueva, 6. 47011-Valladolid ([email protected]).
SAN MARTÍN, CAMARERO, AND SAN JOSÉ Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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APPENDIX
Variables Measurement
Variables Description Mean S.D. Lambda
Warranty A warranty is provided to cover 3.37 1.08 — possible unforeseen events or product/service faults. There is the possibility of returning 3.18 1.16 — a product if the customer is not satisfied.
Security and It is safe and has a privacy policy 3.80 1.02 — privacy policies regarding customer information.
The site informs the customer about 3.78 1.10 — security and privacy policies. I feel safe when sending personal 3.56 1.16 — information. I think my rights regarding my 3.57 1.09 — personal details are respected. I do not think my details are 3.44 1.21 — transferred to other companies or are used to send me advertising to which I have not consented. I think the site has mechanisms 3.60 1.07 — that guarantee the safe transmission of user information.
Quality of Detailed information is provided 3.84 1.00 — the service regarding the range of products
and services offered. Compliance with quality 3.79 1.01 — commitments and term and conditions on delivery. It offers products with a good 3.80 0.96 — price–quality ratio. It offers customized products and 3.26 1.15 — services. It offers a wide range of products. 3.86 1.05 —
Interactivity The intention is to promote 3.15 1.00 — interactivity with the visitors. I perceive the shopping experience 3.00 1.20 — as if I were buying in a real store.
Design of the Browsing is easy. 3.92 1.00 — Web site The site contains images and the 3.68 1.05 —
shopping experience is fun. The site has an attractive, modern, 3.72 0.92 — and professional design.
(Continued)
DOES INVOLVEMENT MATTER IN ONLINE SHOPPING SATISFACTION AND TRUST? Psychology & Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar
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Variables Description Mean S.D. Lambda
Trust a � 0.788; I think this Web site keeps 3.77 1.07 0.851 AVE � 0.481 its promises.
I think the information provided on 3.82 0.86 0.827 this Web site is true and honest. I think I can trust this Web site. 3.80 0.93 0.836 This Web site never issues false 3.48 1.04 a
statements. This Web site stands out for its 3.65 0.92 0.675 honesty and transparency while offering its products to the user. I think this Web site operates in an 3.65 0.95 a
ethical manner. I think this Web site has the 3.88 0.91 0.693 necessary resources to successfully carry out its activities.
Satisfaction I think I made the right decision by 3.89 1.03 a
a � 0.890; using this Web site. AVE � 0.713 My shopping expectations have been 3.88 0.92 0.850
met by this Web site. The shopping experience on this 3.92 0.90 0.904 Web site has been satisfactory. I am happy with the products I have 3.96 0.86 0.843 bought on this Web site. I am generally happy with the 3.97 0.90 0.829 service provided by this Web site.
Involvement I am very interested in the products 3.41 1.119 0.991 a � 0.856; and the services made available AVE � 0.670 through the Internet.
My level of involvement with the 3.02 1.106 0.822 services and products offered over the Internet is high. I am particularly involved with the 2.65 1.127 0.593 buying–selling Internet environment.
a Deleted items.
