Managing Trust of E-customers in Online Shopping – A Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Purpose: Developing countries are still dealing with basic issues in promoting online shopping. One such issue faced by ecommerce since inception is the lack of trust of the e-customers about the overall online shopping concept. Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the middle east going through huge reforms in economic and social areas. The main aim of the current study was to explore the level of importance a Saudi e-customer puts on trust in online shopping to motivate them to adopt it.

Methodology: The study is descriptive and quantitative based on primary data collected from respondents including Saudis and non-Saudis living in Saudi Arabia. Data was collected by close-ended structured questionnaire. The intensity of response on importance of trust was taken on five point Likert scale. To encourage high response rate and reliable data the English questionnaire was translated into Arabic language as it is the spoken language of the country. To get the results to satisfy the objectives of the study, following statistics analyzed the primary data namely mean, frequency, percentage, and t-test to measure the difference between the Saudis and Non-Saudis.

Implications: The results will be useful for the e-retailers especially in Saudi Arabia and middle-east and also outside the region. The e-retailers can understand the concern area of e-customers and thus plan to minimize it to build e-customers trust.

Limitations: The study is based on data from Saudi Arabia, therefore for generalization of the findings the same study may be conducted in other regions.

Keyword: E-retailer, E-consumer, Trust, online shopping, Saudi Arabia

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-6-06