Abstract!
Nowadays,!online!privacy!is!becoming!more!and!more!important!for!the!customers.!A!way!used!by!online! companies!to!reduce!this!concern!is!the!endorsing!of!privacy!seal.!Literature!suggest!that!showing!such!a! seal!might!increase!the!trustworthiness!of!the!website!and!the!customers’!willingness!to!purchase,!while! other!authors!state!that!these!effects!do!not!occur.!The!aim!of!this!study!is!to!find!if!these!effects!exist,!the! main! difference! of! this! research! in! comparison! from! the! previous! is! that! it! is! not! just! testing! the! consequences! of! the! presence! of! a! privacy! seal! but! it! is! testing! its! effectiveness.! In! order! to! define! the! effectiveness,!it!was!determined!its!antecedents!based!on!applicable!literature!from!similar!fields.!In!this! study,!security!perception,!informativeness!and!awareness!are!the!characteristics!of!privacy!seal!that!were! examined! if! they! influence! the! privacy! seal! effectiveness.! The! results! show! that! security! perception! and! awareness! have! a! positive! impact! on! privacy! seal! effectiveness,! while! weak! outcomes! supports! that! informativeness! has! a! positive! effect! on! effectiveness.! Moreover,! privacy! seal! effectiveness! partially! mediates! the! effect! of! security! perception! on! willingness! to! purchase,! while! weak! supports! exist! for! the! partial!mediation!of!informativeness!and!for!the!full!mediation!of!awareness.!Furthermore,!the!outcomes! show!that!privacy!seal!effectiveness!has!positive!influences!on!website!trustworthiness!and!willingness!to! purchase! and! that! this! last! effect! is! partially! mediated! by! website! trustworthiness.! Finally,! the! nation! of! residence!of!the!customers!might!have!an!influence!on!privacy!seal!effectiveness,!website!trustworthiness! and!willingness!to!purchase.!The!study!provides!also!managerial!implications,!the!research!limitations!and! indications!for!future!research.!
!
!
Table!of!contents!
INTRODUCTION! 6!
LITERATURE!REVIEW! 8!
PRIVACY!SEALS! 8
!
PRIVACY!SEAL!CONSEQUENCE! 10
!
Introduction!
Customers!voice!that!their!privacy!is!invaded!when!they!surf!the!web,!however!they!do!not!do!anything!to! prevent! this! situation! (Smith! et! al,! 2011).! The! concerns! about! privacy! may! influence! the! willingness! to! purchase! (Belanger,! 2002)! and! ecvendors! to! avoid! these! worries! include! in! their! website! a! section! for! privacy!policy!(Tsai!et!al,!2010).!Despite!this!effort!by!the!ecvendors,!customers!do!not!make!the!effort!to! read!privacy!policies!and!indicate!as!major!reason!lack!of!time!and!interest!(Moores,!2008)!and!that!the! privacy! policies! are! difficult! to! understand! (Moores,! 2005).! Another! way! to! inform! customers! about! the! privacy!policies!is!endorsing!privacy!seals.!There!are!contradictory!results!about!the!effect!of!privacy!seals! on! willingness! to! purchase! (Kim! et! al,! 2007).! Several! studies! found! that! endorsing! a! privacy! seal! would! increase!willingness!to!purchase!directly!or!indirectly!trough!trust!(Kohen,!2003;!Liu!et!al,!2005;!Smith!et!al,! 2011;!Kim!et!al,!2008;!Mei!et!al.!2010;!Tsai!et!al,!2011).!On!the!other!hand,!other!authors!found!that!there! is!not!such!effects!(Kim,!Ferrin!and!Lao,!2008;!McKnight!et!al,!2004;!Kim,!Steinfield!and!Lai,!2008).! Discordant!results!about!privacy!seals!were!found!in!context!of!marketing!(Kim!et!al,!2008).!Some!authors! argue!that!the!employment!of!privacy!seals!would!increase!consumers’!willingness!to!purchase!directly!or! indirectly!by!increasing!website!trustworthiness!or!the!decrease!of!the!risk!perception!(Kohen,!2003;!Liu!et! al,!2005;!Smith!et!al,!2011;!Kim!et!al,!2008;!Mei!et!al.!2010;!Tsai!et!al,!2011).!While,!others!state!that!the! privacy!seals!do!not!have!a!positive!effect!on!willingness!to!purchase!and!trust!(Kim,!Ferrin!and!Lao,!2008;! McKnight! et! al,! 2004;! Kim,! Steinfield! and! Lai,! 2008).! Moreover,! inconsistent! results! were! found! when! different!trust!seals!(privacy!and!security)!are!combined;!Belenger!et!al.!(2002)!argue!that!websites!have!to! combine!these!seals!in!order!to!become!more!trustworthy!but!Hu!et!al.!(2010)!state!that!when!these!seals! are! combined! the! trust! would! actually! decrease.! Therefore,! there! is! a! need! for! contextcspecific! research! (Treiblmaier! and! Chong,! 2007).! Thus,! in! this! thesis! would! be! examined! the! effectiveness! of! different! characteristics!of!the!privacy!seals!and!this!effectiveness!would!be!tested!if!it!has!an!effect!on!willingness!to! purchase.!
One!reason!because!of!the!inconsistent!findings!about!privacy!seal!in!previous!studies!might!be!that!exist! many!type!of!privacy!seals!with!different!characteristics!(Rodriguez!et!al,!2013).!In!order!to!be!effective,!a! privacy!seal!has!to!be!recognized!by!the!customers,!customers!should!perceive!that!it!would!guarantee!that! their! personal! data! would! be! secure! and! customers! should! be! informed! about! the! privacy! policy! that! a! website!adopts!(Rifon!et!al,!2005;!LaRose!and!Rifon,!2007;!Rodriguez,!2013).!
!
In! order! to! do! so,! first! it! will! be! done! a! literature! review! for! privacy! seals! and! website! trustworthiness.! Then,! the! conceptual! model! and! hypotheses! would! be! presented! which! will! be! followed! by! the! methodology!used!to!determine!the!variables.!After!that,!the!results!will!be!presented!and!discussed!with! literature! contribution! and! managerial! implication,! in! addition! to! the! limitations! that! accompanied! this! study.!
Literature!review!
Privacy!seals!
Privacy!seal!is!a!mechanism!to!protect!the!personal!information!of!customers!(and!generally!speaking,!of!all! internet! users)! (Mai! et! al,! 2010;! Rodriguez! et! al,! 2013).! These! kinds! of! seals! play! an! important! role! for! different!players!in!the!market,!namely!the!regulator!(State),!companies!and!customers!(Rodriguez,!2013).! The!regulator!benefits!from!the!privacy!seals!because!they!“reduce!the!regulatory!and!enforcement!burden! meaning! less! need! for! regulation! and! greater! flexibility”! (Rodriguez,! 2013);! the! advantages! for! the! companies! are! that! privacy! seals! allow! the! certificated! companies! to! demonstrate! that! they! care! about! customers’!privacy!and!build!customer!trust!(Rodriguez,!2013);!and!the!customers!can!quickly!evaluate!the! privacy!policy!of!a!website!(Mei!et!al,!2010;!Rodriguez,!2013).!
!
It!is!important!to!note!that!Internet!users!do!not!know!the!difference!between!a!privacy!seal!and!a!security! seal!(Moores!and!Dhillon,!2003;!Holst,!2013).!Although!these!two!seals!are!related!they!are!different,!in!fact! the! privacy! seal! assures! that! the! ecvendor! does! not! share! the! personal! data! of! its! customers! to! other! institutions.! While! the! security! seal! assures! the! technical! protection! of! the! transaction! between! the! customers! and! the! website! as! well! as! the! protection! from! a! hackercattack! that! might! steal! the! most! sensitive!data!such!the!credit!card!and!password!(TrustE,!Verisign).!More!than!half!of!Internet!users!(59%)! believe! that! the! privacy! seals! protect! them! against! scam! and! 22%! believe! that! privacy! seals! assure! the! protection! against! scam! (Moores! and! Dhillon,! 2003).! Moreover,! the! customers,! in! another! survey,! “recognized”!a!trust!seal!logo!that!does!not!exist;!this!indicates!that!consumers!are!not!familiar!with!the! privacy!seals!and!their!function!(Moores,!2005).!The!problem!is!that!privacy!seals!do!not!have!this!function! and!they!get!more!credit!and!trust!that!they!deserve!(Moores!and!Dhillon,!2003).!Belanger!and!colleagues! in! 2002! found! that! the! security! seals! were! more! valuable! by! the! customers! than! privacy! seals,! mainly! because! the! security! is! a! concrete! concept! and! easily! understandable! that! the! concept! of! privacy! and! because! the! privacy! statements! are! not! in! favor! of! the! customers! while! the! security! seals! match! their! expectations!(Belanger!et!al,!2002).!While!recently!(2013),!Holst!found!that!Internet!users!do!not!have!any! preference! (49%)! between! these! two! types! of! seals! and! 51%! preferred! a! security! seal! to! a! privacy! seal! among!those!who!had!a!preference.!This!result!indicate!that!customers!are!led!by!the!perceived!security,! rather! than! by! the! actual! technical! security! and! the! most! preferred! seals! are! those! owned! by! antivirus! companies!such!Norton!and!McAfee!(55%)!(Holst,!2013).!
Figure!1:!The!seal!that!gave!customers!the!best!sense!of!trust!when!purchasing!online!
Belanger!and!colleagues!(2002)!advice!the!marketers!to!combine!the!security!seal!and!privacy!seal!in!order! to! boost! the! customers’! willingness! to! purchase! and! their! trust! on! the! ecvendor,! while! Hu! et! al.! (2010)! found!that!the!combination!of!these!type!of!seals!reduces!the!trustworthiness!of!the!websites.!
Privacy!Seal!Consequence!
For!these!reasons,!eccompanies!should!mitigate!the!perception!of!the!risk!for!a!leak!of!customers’!personal! data! (e.g.! credit! card! information)! (Ling! et! al,! 2011).! In! order! to! protect! the! privacy! of! their! customers,! companies!started!using!privacy!seals!that!are!visible!and!guarantee!the!protection!of!the!clients’!personal! data! (Liu! et! al,! 2005).! Privacy! seals! have! a! positive! effect! on! trust! and! willingness! to! purchase! and! perceptions!toward! the!privacy! statement! would! be! more!positive! (Liu!and!Arnett,!2000;!Belanger! et!al.! 2002;!Kaplan!and!Nieschwietz,!2002;!Bart!et!al,!2005;!Liu!et!al,!2005;!Kim!et!al,!2007;!Hu!et!al,!2009;!Mai!et! al,!2010;!Smith!et!al,!2011;!Chang!and!Fang!2013!Tsai!et!al,!2011).!Moreover,!privacy!seals!decrease!the! perceived!risk!during!an!online!transaction!(Kim!et!al,!2008).!The!sites!that!use!privacy!seals!have!almost! the!same!privacy!policies!as!the!websites!that!do!not!use!it!but!customers!provide!superior!access!to!their! information! and! assurances! of! data! security! to! websites! that! endorse! a! privacy! seals,! in! comparison! to! those!that!have!no!privacy!seals!(LaRose!and!Rifon,!2006).!An!advantage!for!websites!that!employ!privacy! seals!is!that!the!customers!become!more!loyal!and!tend!to!purchase!more!(Liu!et!al,!2005).!However,!this! positive!effect!might!be!limited!to!users!that!have!a!high!privacy!selfcefficacy2;!that!means!that!only!who!is! aware!of!privacy!risks!and!knows!how!to!protect!himself!would!trust!more!an!eccommerce!that!endorses!a! privacy! seal! (Nam! et! al,! 2006;! LaRose! and! Rifon,! 2007).! It! can! be! concluded! that! being! awarded! with! a! privacy!seal!would!increase!willingness!to!purchase!directly!or!indirectly!trough!trust!(Kohen,!2003;!Liu!et! al,!2005;!Smith!et!al,!2011;!Kim!et!al,!2008;!Mei!et!al.!2010;!Tsai!et!al,!2011).!
!
(Edelman,! 2009).! Moreover,! according! to! the! FTC! (2014),! since! 2006! until! 2013! TRUSTe! had! not! recertificated!more!than!1000!websites!and!its!clients!have!not!changed!the!social!status!of!TRUSTe!from! noncprofit!to!forcprofit!company,!thus!the!question!that!arise!is!whether!the!organization!is!still!reliable.!! This!drawbacks!can!explain!why!several!researches!found!no!effect!of!privacy!seals!on!trust!and!willingness! to! purchase! (Kim,! Ferrin! and! Lao,! 2008;! McKnight! et! al,! 2004;! Kim,! Steinfield! and! Lai,! 2008).! Different! explanation!are!given:!
• even!if!the!customers!are!used!to!online!shopping,!73.7%!are!unaware!that!ecstores!obtained!the! TPP!and!secure!their!privacy!(Kim,!Ferrin!and!Lao,!2008);!
• because! privacy! concern! is! a! longcterm! perception,! informing! clients! once! about! the! function! of! privacy!seals!does!not!have!any!effect!(Kim,!Steinfield!and!Lai,!2008);!
• “even!though!the!education!intervention!improves!consumers'!security!and!privacy!concerns,!the! effect!of!thirdcparty!seals!may!alleviate!the!concerns!which!have!been!enhanced!by!the!educational! intervention”!(Kim,!Steinfield!and!Lai,!2008);!
• Customers! believe! that! ecvendors! that! use! privacy! seals! just! want! to! persuade! them! that! the! websites!are!concerned!about!their!customers’!privacy!but!actually!they!do!not!care!(McKnight!et! al,!2004)! • Only!the!seals!that!explain!in!detail!what!their!logo!stand!for!can!influence!the!customers’!behavior! (McKnight!et!al,!2004)! Due!to!these!discordant!outcomes!it!is!difficult!to!determine!the!real!effect!of!the!privacy!seals!on!trust!and! willingness!to!purchase.!
Privacy!seal!effectiveness!
Previous!studies!had!investigated!if!the!presence!of!privacy!seal!had!an!effect!on!trust!or!on!willingness!to! purchase.!This!thesis!will!investigate!if!the!effectiveness!has!an!effect!on!these!to!variables.!For!this!reason! it!is!necessary!to!define!the!privacy!seal!effectiveness.!Previous!studies!of!privacy!seal!found!that!it!might!influence!the!customer!behavior,!if!customers!are!aware! of! the! privacy! seals! and! what! they! stand! for.! The! results! of! Odom,! Kumar! and! Saunders! (2002)! stated! “customercbased!brand!equity!of!a!certain!brand!of!web!assurance!seal!would!capture!the!effectiveness!of! that!web!assurance!seal!by!influencing!consumer!behavior!at!any!web!site”.!This!proposition!may!lay!on!the! branding! literature! because! logos! and! seals! are! similar,! the! only! difference! is! that! the! seals! can! not! be! deliberately! endorsed,! thus! a! company/website! need! first! to! be! certified! before! showing! the! seal.! Therefore,!it!can!be!argued!that!a!privacy!seal!would!be!more!effective!if!the!customers!are!aware!of!it! (Huang! et! al,! 2006).! Moreover,! Yang! and! colleagues! (2006)! suggest! that! endorsing! seals! with! high! awareness!among!customers!would!be!more!effective.!Odom!et!al!(2002)!found!also!that!a!seal!would!be! more!appreciated!by!the!customers!if!it!can!address!security!concerns.!Thus,!the!effectiveness!of!a!privacy! seal!is!influenced!by!the!awareness!of!the!customers.!Huang!et!al!(2006)!found!that!the!effectiveness!of!the! WebTrust! seal! is! influenced! by! the! customers’! understanding! of! the! seal,! ergo! the! more! customers! understand!what!the!seal!means!the!more!it!will!be!effective.!
For! all! these! reasons,! in! this! thesis! privacy! seal! effectiveness! is! defined! as! the! outcome! of! the! security! perception! the! seal! can! transfer! to! customers! (security! perception),! its! ability! of! being! informative! (informativeness)!and!the!level!of!its!awareness!among!the!customers.!
Trust!
Trust!can!be!defined!as!“the!willingness!of!a!party!to!be!vulnerable!to!the!actions!of!another!party!based!on! the!expectation!that!the!other!will!perform!a!particular!action!important!to!the!trustor,!irrespective!of!the! ability!to!monitor!or!control!that!other!party!”!(Kaplan,!2003).!In!online!environment,!trust!is!even!more! important!than!in!the!real!world,!because!there!do!not!exist!the!assurances!such!receipts!or!the!possibility! to!try!the!product!before!buying!it!(Gefen!and!Straub,!2004).!Since!Internet!is!one!of!the!main!sources!of! financial! fraud,! consumers! do! not! trust! in! the! ecvendors! and! only! 5%! of! Visa! owners! trust! an! ecretailer! (Gefen! and! Straub,! 2004).! From! the! business! side! of! view,! trust! permits! to! ecvendors! to! achieve! three! strategic!goals:!“following!advice!offered!by!the!web!vendor,!sharing!personal!information!with!the!vendor,! and!purchasing!from!the!vendor’s!web!site”!(McKnight!et!al,!2002).!! party!seal!increases!the!quality!perception!of!a!product!(Kaplan!and!Nieschwietz,!2002).!Furthermore,!an!ec retailer!can!increase!its!trustworthiness!by!adopting!“traditional!marketing!tactics”,!they!could!be!(Corbitt! et!al,!2003):!! • foster!the!word!of!mouth!since!it!decreases!the!anxiety!of!purchasing!online,! • introduce!the!moneycback!guarantee,! • strengthen!the!brand!image,!e.g.!enter!in!a!partnership!with!a!well!known!company.! Corbitt!and!colleagues!(2003)!found!that!several!factors,!perceived!by!the!customers,!influence!trust,!such! market!orientation4,!perceived!site!quality,!technical!trustworthiness,!perception!of!the!website’s!size!and! user’s! web! experience.! However,! it! is! important! to! note! that! there! is! a! paradox! for! the! user’s! web! experience!because!the!more!a!customer!uses!the!web,!the!more!it!gain!experience!and!it!is!likely!that!he! would!trust!more!the!web.!On!the!other!hand!the!more!a!customer!uses!the!web,!the!more!he!would!be! worried! about! the! privacy! and! security! issues,! thus! his! trust! would! decrease! (Corbitt! et! al,! 2003).! In! addition,! trust! should! be! distinguished! by! the! user’s! familiarity! with! the! website! because! “it! creates! a! framework!and!understanding!of!the!environment”!and!it!strongly!influences!the!willingness!to!purchase! both! directly! and! trough! the! mediation! of! trust! (Gefen,! 2000).! However,! according! to! Gefen! (2000)! a! company!can!influence!the!trustworthy!perception!of!a!website!but!also!the!customer’s!propensity!to!trust! others!plays!a!key!role!in!the!trust!formation.! Especially!when!the!relationship!between!the!customer!and!ecretailer!is!in!the!initial!phase,!trust!is!very! important!and!if!a!consumer!does!not!perceive!the!website!as!trustworthy,!the!transaction!would!not!occur! (McKnight!et!al,!2002).!Moreover,!reputation!and!the!quality!of!the!website!are!the!factors!that!determine! the!initial!trust!of!a!website!(McKnight!et!al,!2002)!and!according!to!Chang!and!Chen!(2008)!the!brand!of!a! website! is! the! most! important! factor! that! lead! to! higher! trustworthiness.! For! these! reasons,! customers! trust!more!websites!such!Amazon.com!because!of!its!reputation!and!high!brand!awareness!in!addition!to! an! outstanding! customer! relationship! management! (Lim,! 2003).! However,! unknown! onlinecbased! companies! do! not! posses! reputation! and! brand! awareness! among! the! consumers! and! these! new! companies!could!not!afford!to!invest!in!customer!relationship5!(Lim,!2003;!Harrigan!et!al,!2008;!Harrigan!et! al,!2011).!Furthermore,!customers!are!afraid!that!unknown!companies!could!misuse!their!personal!data,!for! instance!they!believe!that!these!companies!are!actually!scams!(Lim,!2003).!
The!customers!who!more!identify!themselves!with!the!website!would!perceive!a!higher!trustworthiness!of! a! website! (Lee! et! al,! 2010).! The! websites! could! implement! immediate! triggers! (for! instance! having! a! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4!“Market!orientation!is!essentially!a!managerial!philosophy,!which!takes!the!customer!as!a!focal!point!for!business!
activities!and!considers!profit!as!a!consequence!of!customer!orientation”!(Corbitt!et!al,!2003)
5!Although!the!startcup!are!investing!and!are!doing!well!in!the!automatized!part!of!CRM,!they!do!not!invest!in!the!
!
Research!question!and!conceptual!model!
websites!that!endorse!the!seal!(Mei!et!al,!2010).!Therefore,!a!privacy!seal!can!be!considered!effective!only! if!it!informs!well!the!customers!about!what!it!stands!for!and!what!kind!of!privacy!policy!is!implemented!by! the!websites!(LaRose!and!Rifon,!2007;!Rodriguez!et!al,!2013).! H2:!the!more!a!privacy!seal!informs!the!customers!about!the!privacy!policy!of!a!website,!the!more!it! would!be!effective! Similarly!to!a!brand,!a!privacy!seal!is!effective!only!if!the!customers!are!aware!of!it!(Larose!and!Rifon,!2007;! Rifon!et!al,!2005;!Rodriguez,!2013;!Kim!et!al,!2008;!Moores!and!Dhillon,!2003;!Moores,!2008;!Nam!et!al,! 2006).!This!means!that!the!customers!have!to!recognize!the!privacy!seal!(due!prior!exposure)!and!recall!it! (when!they!have!to!share!their!personal!data)!(LaRose!and!Rifon,!2007;!Keller,2013)! ! H3:!the!more!customers!are!aware!of!the!privacy!seal,!the!more!it!would!be!effective!!
Mediators!
In! online! environment,!endorsing! a! certification! is! very! important! because! it! can! influence! the! customer! behavior.! Specifically,! a! website! that! shows! a! privacy! seal! can! increase! the! customers’! willingness! to! purchase!(Liu!and!Arnett,!2000;!Liu!et!al,!2005;!Mei!et!al.!2010,!Tsai!et!al,!2011!Chang!and!Fang,!2013)! ! H4a:!an!effective!privacy!seal!would!positively!affect!willingness!to!purchase!
H4b:! this! effect! would! mediate! the! effect! of! the! privacy! seal! characteristics! on! willingness! to! purchase!
!
Control!variables!
In! addition! to! the! hypotheses,! two! control! variables! are! included! in! the! model! because! differences! in! technology! acceptance! could! be! caused! by! gender,! where! males! are! more! incline! to! use! technology! to! reach! their! goals! (Whitley! Jr.,! 1997;! Venkatesh! et! al,! 2000;! Venkatesh! and! Morris,! 2000)! and! these! differences! exists! also! in! judging! trustworthy! and! untrustworthy! situations! in! eccommerce! environment! (Riedl!et!al,!2010).!Furthermore,!trust!believes!may!be!influenced!by!the!country!of!residence!(Doney!et!al,! 1998,!Gefen!et!al.!2005).!Moreover,!younger!consumers!are!more!prone!to!use!new!technologies!and!less!
Methodology!
Design!
In! order! to! test! the! hypotheses! mentioned! in! the! previous! section,! a! quantitative! research! method! was! used.! It! was! selected! because! this! method! is! used! to! find! if! hypotheses! are! statistically! significant! (Amaratunga,!2002).!The!research!was!done!through!online!surveys!that!were!posted!on!social!networks,! forums! and! texted! to! friends! via! mobile! phone.! In! order! to! reach! a! wider! audience! the! survey! was! translated! in! Italian! and! Serbian.! The! questionnaire! was! translated! independently! by! the! author! of! the! thesis!and!other!two!persons!that!are!fluent!in!English6!and!native!in!Italian.!Then!the!three!versions!were! confronted!via!Skype!and!the!final!version!was!obtained.!The!same!procedure!was!done!for!the!Serbian7! version! of! the! survey.! The! website! that! would! be! seen! in! the! survey! was! created! through! Photoshop! because!of!the!lack!of!financial!resources!and!time!to!build!a!fictional!website.!The!market!of!the!website! that!is!decided!to!be!used!in!this!study!is!the!online!travel.!It!was!selected!because!the!customers!have!to! share!the!most!sensitive!data!with!the!online!travel!agency!(Bart!et!al,!2005),!such!date!of!birth,!address,! credit! card! number! and! in! some! cases! (depending! on! the! destination! of! the! trip)! the! passport! number! (Expedia.com,! 2015).! The! privacy! seal! that! was! used! for! the! study! was! TRUSTe! because! it! is! the! most! popular! and! it! is! not! associated! to! other! IT! services! such! antivirus! and! firewall! (LaRose! and! Rifon,! 2005;! Moores,!2008).! The!survey!was!created!through!Qualtrix!and!was!posted!on!social!networks.!The!participants!in!the!study! were!invited!to!share!the!link!of!the!survey!on!their!account!pages.!After!collecting!data,!SPSS!was!used!to! analyze!the!answers!of!the!surveys.!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test!was!used!to!establish!if!the!mediation!occurred! as!proposed!in!the!conceptual!model!and!the!Sobel!test!was!used!to!confirm!the!mediation!effects.!
Procedure!
The! respondents! read! a! brief! introduction! about! the! task! they! have! to!accomplish,!namely!they!have!to! imagine!the!situation!in!which!they!have!to!book!a!travel!to!Rio!de!Janeiro!and!use!the!fictional!website! AmazingTrips.com.!Then!the!respondents!saw!the!website!with!a!privacy!seal.!After!seeing!4!screenshots!of! the!website!they!answered!the!questionnaire.!First,!they!were!asked!to!evaluate!the!trustworthiness!of!the! website!and!the!willingness!to!purchase.!Second,!it!was!shown!the!logo!of!the!privacy!seal!and!was!asked!if! they!had!noticed!it!and!finally!the!participants!were!asked!to!rate!the!security!perception,!informativeness,! awareness! and! effectiveness! of! the! privacy! seal.! The! questions! were! formulated! in! a! sevencpoint! Likert! scale!from!1!(strongly!disagree)!to!7!(strongly!disagree).!Items!of!the!questionnaires!that!are!used!in!this! thesis!are!validated!by!previous!researches!(Appendix!A).!! !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6!One! obtained! a! master! in! finance! at! The! National!University!of! Ireland!Maynooth! and! the! other! will! graduate! in!
August!at!Trinity!College!in!Dublin
!
Results!
In!this!section!will!be!shown!the!results!of!data!collection,!data!analysis!and!hypotheses.!Specifically,!it!will! be!presented!demographic!data,!reliability!of!the!data,!factor!analysis!and!then!a!regression!analysis!will!be! run!to!test!the!hypotheses.!!Descriptive!statistics!
A!total!of!274!people!opened!the!questionnaire!and!of!those!253!completed!it.!98!(38.73%)!were!males!and! 153! (61.27)! were! females.! A! large! majority! of! the! participants! were! under! 30! years! old! (224,! 88.54%),! respondents! between! the! age! 30! and! 50! were! 26! (10.28%)! and! just! 3! (1.18)! persons! were! over! 50.! Moreover,!133!(52.57%)!noticed!the!privacy!seal!and!121!(47.43)!did!not.!As! showed! in! Table! 1,! more! than! half! of! the! participants! live! in! Switzerland;! in! fact! 165! (65.22%)! participants! reside! in! the! Swiss! confederation.! The! second! most! represented! country! in! this! sample! was! Italy! with! 28! (11,07)! respondents! and! the! Netherlands! were! third! most! represented! country! with! 27! (10.67%)!participants.!The!remaining!participants!reside!in!other!11!countries.!
Table!1:!Descriptive!statistics!
! Variable! Frequency! Percentage!
!
Factor!analysis!
A! factor! analysis! was! performed! in! order! to! reduce! the! number! variables.! Moreover,! the! factor! analysis! would!double!check!the!reliability!of!the!items!used!for!measuring!the!variables.!Therefore!it!was!decided! to!run!a!principal!components!factor!analysis!with!a!fixed!number!of!factors,!in!this!case!6,!including!all!24! items.!It!was!used!the!fixed!number!of!factors!because!previous!researches!validated!the!scales!used!in!this! thesis,!thus!the!factor!analysis!was!done!to!double!check!the!reliability!of!the!scales.!Moreover,!this!factor! analysis! used! a! VARIMAX! orthogonal! rotation! in! order! to! obtain! more! adequate! loadings! per! factor! (Malhotra,!2009).!
The! KaisercMeyercOlkin! measure! of! sampling! adequacy! shows! that! this! factor! analysis! is! adequate! for! reduce! the! 24! items! in! only! 6! factors! because! its! value! is! 0.895! that! is! more! than! the! criterion! of! 0.5.! Furthermore,!the!Bartlett’s!sphericity!test!is!significant!since!the!significance!level!is!0.00!that!is!lower!than! 0.05.!The!routed!components!matrix!(Table!1,!Appendix!A)!shows!that!it!could!be!done!the!same!reduction! of!dimensions!as!in!previous!researches!and!no!items!were!left!out!since!every!item!has!one!factor!loading! higher!than!0.6.!
Reliability!analysis!
With! the! purpose! of! measuring! the! degree! of! consistency! of! the! results,! a! reliability! analysis! was! performed.! In! order! to! measure! the! reliability! of! the! questionnaire,! Cronbach’s! alpha! coefficients! were! used.! The! more! the! questionnaire! is! reliable,! the! more! the! results! are! credible.! Cronbach’s! alpha! coefficients!are!numbers!between!0!and!1,!when!a!coefficient!is!closer!to!1!it!indicates!that!the!internal! consistency!is!good.!A!coefficient!is!unacceptable!if!it!is!lower!than!0.5,!acceptable!if!it!is!between!0.5!and! 0.6,! good! between! 0.7! and! 0.8,! very! good! between! 0.8! and! 0.9! and! excellent! if! it! is! between! 0.9! and! 1! (George!and!Mallery,!2003).!
The!four!items!that!form!perceived!security!obtained!0.92!in!the!Cronbach’s!alpha!test,!which!means!that! they!are!very!reliable.!Moreover,!when!an!item!was!deleted!the!Cronbach’s!alpha!coefficient!for!security! perception!decreases.!
The! reliability! of! the! four! items! that! form! privacy! seal! efficiency! is! excellent,! since! its! Cronbach’s! alpha! coefficient! is! 0.944.! Moreover,! as! in! the! case! of! perceived! security,! when! an! item! was! deleted! this! coefficient!would!be!lower,!except!for!the!item!Eff1!where!the!Cronbach’s!alpha!increases!to!0.955.!Since! this!increase!is!small,!it!was!decided!to!maintain!this!item.!
The! reliability! of! the! five! items! that! form! website! trustworthiness! is! good,! in! fact! its! Cronbach’s! alpha! coefficient! is! 0.877.! Moreover,! as! in! the! case! of! privacy! seal! efficiency,! when! an! item! was! deleted! this! coefficient!would!be!lower,!except!for!the!item!WT5!where!the!Cronbach’s!alpha!increases!to!0.883.!Since! this!increase!is!small,!it!was!decided!to!maintain!this!item.!
Multiple!regression!analysis!
In! order! to! perform! the! multiple! regression! analysis! it! was! necessary! to! create! factor! scores.! For! this! purpose,!the!factor!scores!were!obtained!by!calculating!the!weighted!means!of!each!factor!(DiStefano!et!al,! 2009).!
Multiple! regression! analyses! were! executed! in! order! to! test! the! two! mediations,! as! proposed! in! the! conceptual!model.!Furthermore,!it!was!checked!if!multicollinearity!occurs!in!the!models,!for!this!purpose!it! was! used! the! Variance! Inflation! Factor! (VIF).! If! VIF! is! greater! than! 6! and! lower! than! 10! that! means! that! moderate! multicollinearity! occurs! in! the! model! and! if! the! VIF! is! higher! than! 10,! the! multicollinearity! is! strong!(Malhotra,!2009).!
Dummy!variables!were!created!in!order!to!test!the!effects!of!control!variables.!For!the!variable!gender!it! was!created!one!dummy!variable!where!males!are!the!reference!group.!For!the!nation!of!residence!it!was! created!three!categorical!variables,!one!for!respondents!who!live!in!the!Netherlands,!one!for!those!who!live! in! Italy! and! one! for! who! live! in! other! countries! and! participants! who! live! in! Switzerland! are! used! as! the! benchmark!group.!For!the!variable!age!it!was!created!two!dummy!variables,!one!for!respondents!who!have! an!age!between!30!and!50!and!the!second!one!for!those!that!are!older!than!50!and!participants!younger! than!30!are!the!reference!group.!
To! check! if! mediation! occurs,! it! was! used! the! Baron! and! Kenny! mediation! test.! According! to! Baron! and! Kenny!(1986),!mediation!happens!only!if!three!conditions!take!place!simultaneously:!
• The!independent!variable!has!a!significant!effect!on!the!mediator,!
• The!independent!variable!has!a!significant!effect!on!the!dependent!variable!and! • The!mediator!has!a!significant!effect!on!the!dependent!variable!
!
Table!3!Summary!of!the!betas!in!the!models!for!the!first!mediation9!
! Model!1!
(DV=Eff)! Model!2!(DV=Eff)! Model!3!(DV=W2P)! Model!4!(DV=W2P)! Model!5!(DV=W2P)! Model!6!(DV=W2P)! Security! perception! 0.547*! 0.577*! 0.488*! ! 0.379*! 0.367*! Informativeness! 0.074***! 0.078**! c0.100**! ! c0.115**! c0.102**! Awareness! 0.234*! 0.228*! 0.086***! ! 0.039!ns! 0.032!ns! Effectiveness! ! ! ! 0.458! 0.201*! 0.170*! Gender! ! c0.006!ns! ! ! ! 0.047!ns! Netherlands! ! 0.093*! ! ! ! 0.118*! Italy! ! c0.011!ns! ! ! ! 0.036!ns! Other! ! 0.062!ns! ! ! ! 0.114*! Age!30c50! ! c0.045!ns! ! ! ! 0.010!ns! Over!50! ! c0.074***! ! ! ! c0.027!ns! *:!pcvalue!<!0.05! **:!pcvalue!<!0.10!! ***:!pcvalue!<0.15! !ns:!not!significant! !
In! model! 1,! a! multiple! linear! regression! was! conducted! to! test! if! the! privacy! seal! characteristics! have! a! significant!effect!on!privacy!seal!effectiveness.!The!results!of!the!regression!indicated!the!three!predictors! explained!47.4%!of!the!variance!(F(3,!252)!=!76.734,!pcvalue!<!0.01;!Adjusted!R2!=!0.474).!It!was!found!that! security!perception!(β!=!0.547,!pcvalue!=!0.000)!influenced!privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!a!5%!significance! level!as!well!as!awareness!(β!=!0.235,!pcvalue!=!0.000),!while!informativeness!(β!=!0.074,!pcvalue!=!0.109)! had! a! positive! influence! only! on! a! 15%! significance! level.! The! maximum! variance! inflation! factor! in! the! model!was!1.274,!suggesting!that!multicollinearity!was!not!an!issue!(VIF!=!1.274!<!6.000)!
In!model!2,!a!multiple!linear!regression!was!calculated!in!order!to!test!if!the!privacy!seal!characteristics!and! control!variables!had!a!significant!effect!on!privacy!seal!effectiveness!and!to!check!if!the!first!condition!of! the! Baron! and! Kenny’s! test! was! satisfied.! The! results! of! the! regression! indicated! the! nine! predictors! explained!48%!of!the!variance!(F(9,!243)!=!26.871,!pcvalue!<!0.01;!Adjusted!R2!=!0.480).!As!in!model!1,!it!was! found!that!security!perception!(β!=!0.577,!pcvalue!=!0.000)!influenced!privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!a!5%! significance! level!as!well!as!awareness!(β!=!0.228,!pcvalue!=!0.000),!while! informativeness!(β!=!0.078,!pc value!=!0.094)!had!a!positive!influence!only!on!a!10%!significance!level.!The!results!indicated!that!gender!(β! =!c0.006,!pcvalue!=!0.907)!did!not!predict!privacy!seal!effectiveness.!The!outcome!suggested!the!nation!of! residence!might!influence!privacy!seal!effectiveness,!in!fact!in!comparison!to!Switzerland!people!who!live!in! the!Netherlands!(β!=!0.093,!pcvalue!=!0.050)!evaluated!more!the!effectiveness!of!the!privacy!seal!on!5%! significance! level.! While,! people! from! Italy! or! other! nations! did! not! differ! from! the! evaluation! of! people! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
who! live! in! Switzerland.! Furthermore,! the! result! indicated! that! the! age! might! have! an! influence! on! effectiveness! of! privacy! seal! in! comparison! to! participants! younger! than! 30.! In! fact,! being! over! 50! negatively!influence!(β!=!c0.074,!pcvalue!=!0.114)!the!effectiveness!of!privacy!seal!on!15%!significance!level.! The!maximum!variance!inflation!factor!in!the!model!was!1.376,!suggesting!that!multicollinearity!was!not!an! issue!(VIF!=!1.376!<!6.000).!Therefore,!it!might!be!concluded!that!strong!supports!existed!for!hypotheses!H1! and! H3! and! weak! support! for! hypothesis! H2.! In! addition! it! might! be! concluded! that! partial! support! was! present!for!first!condition!of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test,!namely!only!two!independent!variables!(security! perception!and!awareness)!had!an!impact!on!the!mediator!(privacy!seal!effectiveness),!while!weak!support! existed!that!informativeness!had!an!effect!on!privacy!seal!effectiveness.!
In! model! 3,! a! multiple! linear! regression! was! conducted! to! test! if! the! privacy! seal! characteristics! have! a! significant!effect!on!willingness!to!purchase.!The!results!of!the!regression!indicated!that!three!predictors! explained!28.2%!of!the!variance!(F(3,!249)!=!33.933,!pcvalue!<!0.01;!Adjusted!R2!=!0.282).!It!was!found!that! security! perception! (β! =! 0.488,! pcvalue! =! 0.000)! influenced! willingness! to! purchase! on! a! 5%! significance! level;!while!informativeness!(β!=!c0.100,!pcvalue!=!0.063)!had!a!negative!effect!only!on!a!10%!significance! level!and!awareness!(β!=!0.086,!pcvalue!=!0.15510)!had!a!positive!impact!on!willingness!to!purchase!only!on! a!15%!significance!level.!The!maximum!variance!inflation!factor!in!the!model!was!1.274,!suggesting!that! multicollinearity!was!not!an!issue!(VIF!=!1.274!<!6.000).!Thus,!it!can!be!concluded!that!the!second!condition! of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test!was!satisfied,!namely!the!independent!variables!(privacy!seal!characteristics)! had!an!effect!on!the!dependent!variable!(willingness!to!purchase).! In!model!4,!a!multiple!linear!regression!was!run!to!test!if!the!privacy!seal!effectiveness!had!a!significant! effect!on!willingness!to!purchase!and!to!test!the!third!condition!of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test.!The!results! of! the! regression! indicated! the! predictor! explained! 20.6%! of! the! variance! (F(1,! 252)! =! 66.453,! pcvalue! <! 0.01;! Adjusted! R2! =! 0.206).! It! was! found! that! security! perception! (β! =! 0.458,! pcvalue! =! 0.000)! influenced! privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!a!5%!significance!level.!The!maximum!variance!inflation!factor!in!the!model! was! 1.000,! suggesting! that! multicollinearity! was! not! an! issue! (VIF! =! 1.000! <! 6.000).! Thus,! it! could! be! concluded!that!hypothesis!H4a!is!supported!and!that!the!third!condition!of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test!was! satisfied,! namely! the! mediator! (privacy! seal! effectiveness)! had! an! effect! on! the! dependent! variable! (willingness!to!purchase).!
From!the!results!it!could!be!concluded!that!only!security!perception!passed!the!first!two!conditions!of!the! Baron! and! Kenny’s! test,! while! weak! support! indicated! that!informativeness! and! awareness! passed! those! two! conditions.! Although! weak! support! showed! that! these! two! variables! passed! the! Baron! and! Kenny’s! test,!they!were!still!included!in!the!mediation!model.!Furthermore,!privacy!seal!effectiveness!had!an!impact! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10!Since!there!is!a!small!difference!between!15%!and!15.5%!it!was!considered!that!it!reached!the!signficance!level!of!
!
differ!from!those!who!live!in!Switzerland.!The!maximum!variance!inflation!factor!in!the!model!was!1.930,! suggesting! that! multicollinearity! was! not! an! issue! (VIF! =! 1.930! <! 6.000).! Thus,! It! can! be! concluded! that! privacy! seal! effectiveness! partially! mediated! the! effect! of! security! perception! on! willingness! to! purchase! and! fully! mediated! this! effect! of! informativeness! and! awareness! on! a! 5%! significance! level.! On! 10%! significance!level,!a!partial!mediation!took!place!for!informativeness.!
The! second! part! of! the! results! section! aimed! to! test! if! website! trustworthiness! mediates! the! effect! of! privacy! seal! effectiveness! on! willingness! to! purchase.! For! this! purpose,! it! was! used! again! the! Baron! and! Kenny!model.!
Table!3!Summary!of!the!betas!in!the!models!for!the!second!mediation!
! Model!7!
(DV=WebT)! Model!8!(DV=WebT)! Model!9!(DV=W2P)! Model!10!(DV=W2P)! Model!11!(DV=W2P)!
Effectiveness! 0.465*! 0.415*! ! 0.162*! 0.150*! Website! trustworthiness! ! ! 0.710*! 0.635*! 0.622*! Gender! ! 0.035!ns! ! ! 0.053!ns! Netherlands! ! 0.149*! ! ! 0.040!ns! Italy! ! 0.012!ns! ! ! 0.064!ns! Other! ! 0.103**! ! ! 0.060!ns! Age!30c50! ! 0.034!ns! ! ! 0.001!ns! Over!50! ! c0.086***! ! ! 0.018!ns! *:!pcvalue!<!0.05! **:!pcvalue!<!0.10!! ***:!pcvalue!<0.15! !ns:!not!significant! ! In!model!7,!a!multiple!linear!regression!was!conducted!in!order!to!test!if!the!privacy!seal!effectiveness!had! a! significant! effect! on! website! trustworthiness.! The! results! of! the! regression! indicated! the! predictor! explained!21.3%!of!the!variance!(F(1,!251)!=!69.346,!pcvalue!<!0.01;!Adjusted!R2!=!0.213).!It!was!found!that! privacy! seal! effectiveness! (β! =! 0.465,! pcvalue! =! 0.000)! influenced! website! trustworthiness! on! a! 5%! significance! level.! The! maximum! variance! inflation! factor! in! the! model! was! 1.000,! suggesting! that! multicollinearity!was!not!an!issue!(VIF!=!1.000!<!6.000).!
!
privacy! seal! effectiveness.! The! outcome! suggested! the! nation! of! residence! might! influence! website! trustworthiness,!in!fact!in!comparison!to!Switzerland,!respondents!who!live!in!the!Netherlands!(β!=!0.149,! pcvalue! =! 0.010)! perceived! the! website! more! trustworthy! on! 5%! significance! level,! whereas! the! respondents!from!other!nations!(β!=!0.103,!pcvalue!=!0.076)!believed!that!the!website!is!more!trustworthy! than!those!in!Switzerland!on!10%!significance!level.!While,!people!from!Italy!(β!=!0.012,!pcvalue!=!0.833)!did! not!differ!from!the!evaluation!of!people!who!live!in!Switzerland.!Furthermore,!the!result!indicated!that!the! age!might!have!an!influence!on!effectiveness!of!privacy!seal!in!comparison!to!participants!younger!than!30.! In!fact,!being!over!50!negatively!influence!(β!=!c0.086,!pcvalue!=!0.130)!the!website!trustworthiness!on!a! 15%! significance! level.! The! maximum! variance! inflation! factor! in! the! model! was! 1.096,! suggesting! that! multicollinearity! was! not! an! issue! (VIF! =! 1.096! <! 6.000).! Therefore,! it! might! be! concluded! that! strong! support!existed!for!hypothesis!H5.!In!addition!it!might!be!concluded!that!the!first!condition!of!the!Baron! and!Kenny’s!test!was!satisfied,!namely!the!independent!variable!(privacy!seal!effectiveness)!had!an!effect! on!the!moderator!(website!trustworthiness).!
Model!4!already!showed!that!the!second!condition!of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test!is!satisfied!for!the!second! mediation,!thus!the!test!was!not!run!again.!
In! model! 9,! a! multiple! linear! regression! was! conducted! in! order! to! test! if! website! trustworthiness! had! a! significant!effect!on!willingness!to!purchase!and!to!test!if!the!third!condition!of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test! is!satisfied.!The!results!of!the!regression!indicated!the!predictor!explained!50.2%!of!the!variance!(F(1,!252)! =!255.195,!pcvalue!<!0.01!Adjusted!R2!=!0.502).!It!was!found!that!website!trustworthiness!(β!=!0.710,!pc value! =! 0.000)! influenced! willingness! to! purchase! on! a! 5%! significance! level.! The! maximum! variance! inflation!factor!in!the!model!was!1.000,!suggesting!that!multicollinearity!was!not!an!issue!(VIF!=!1.000!<! 6.000).!Therefore,!it!could!be!concluded!that!the!hypothesis!H6!is!supported!and!that!the!third!condition!of! the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test!was!satisfied,!namely!the!mediator!(website!trustworthiness)!had!an!impact!on! the!dependent!variable!(willingness!to!purchase).!
In!view!of!the!fact!that!all!three!conditions!of!the!Baron!and!Kenny’s!test!occurred,!it!was!concluded!that! website! trustworthiness! mediated! the! effect! of! privacy! seal! effectiveness! on! willingness! to! purchase.! Moreover,!a!Sobel!test!confirmed!that!the!impact!of!privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!willingness!to!purchase! was! mediated! by! website! trustworthiness! (z! =! 6.163;! pcvalue! =! 0.000)! on! 5%! significance! level.! For! this! purpose!Model!10!was!performed!to!test!whether!this!mediation!is!full!or.!In!model!11!the!procedure!was! repeated,!with!the!difference!that!it!was!integrated!also!the!control!variables.!
positively!influenced!willingness!to!purchase!on!a!5%!significance!level,!as!well!as!website!trustworthiness! (β!=!0.635,!pcvalue!=!0.000).!The!maximum!variance!inflation!factor!in!the!model!was!1.000,!suggesting!that! multicollinearity! was! not! an! issue! (VIF! =! 1.276! <! 6.000).! From! the! outcomes,! it! can! be! concluded! that! website! trustworthiness! partially! mediated! the! effect! of! privacy! seal! effectiveness! on! willingness! to! purchase.!
In!model!11,!was!conducted!in!order!to!test!if!website!trustworthiness!fully!or!partially!mediated!the!effect! of!privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!willingness!to!purchase!but!this!time!the!control!variables!were!included!in! the!model.!The!results!of!the!regression!indicated!the!ten!predictors!explained!48%!of!the!variance!(F(8,! 244)! =! 34.968,! pcvalue! <! 0.01;! Adjusted! R2! =! 0.519).! As! in! model! 10,! was! found! that! privacy! seal! effectiveness!(β!=!0.152,!pcvalue!=!0.003)!positively!influenced!willingness!to!purchase!on!a!5%!significance! level,!as!well!as!website!trustworthiness!(β!=!0.622,!pcvalue!=!0.000).!!The!results!indicated!that!gender!(β!=! 0.053,!pcvalue!=!0.238)!did!not!predict!privacy!seal!effectiveness!as!well!as!the!age!of!participants!nor!the! nation! of! residence.! The! maximum! variance! inflation! factor! in! the! model! was! 1.343,! suggesting! that! multicollinearity! was! not! an! issue! (VIF! =! 1.343! <! 6.000).! Thus,! It! can! be! concluded! that! website! trustworthiness!partially!mediated!the!effect!of!privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!willingness!to!purchase.!
!
Discussion!
Here!will!be!discussed!the!outcomes!of!the!analyses:!research!contribution,!managerial! implications!and! limitations.!Table!11!summarizes!the!results!of!the!hypotheses!tested.! Table!11! Hypothesis! Result! H1:!the!more!a!privacy!seal!provides!security!perceptions!among!the!customers,! the!more!it!would!be!effective! Supported! H2:!the!more!a!privacy!seal!informs!the!customers!about!the!privacy!policy!of!a! website,!the!more!it!would!be!effective! Weakly!supported!H3:! the! more! customers! are! aware! of! the! privacy! seal,! the! more! it! would! be! effective!!
Supported!
H4a:!an!effective!privacy!seal!would!positively!affect!willingness!to!purchase! Supported!! H4b:! this! effect! would! mediate! the! effect! of! the! privacy! seal! characteristics! on!
willingness!to!purchase!
Weakly!supported!
H5:! Privacy! seal! effectiveness! would! have! a! positive! effect! on! website! trustworthiness!
Supported!
H6a:!website!trustworthiness!would!positively!impact!the!willingness!to!purchase! Supported! H6b:! this! effect! would! mediate! the! effect! of! privacy! seal! effectiveness! on!
2008).!A!possible!reason!for!the!low!impact!of!informativeness!on!privacy!seal!effectiveness!may!be!the! difficulty! to! understand! the! privacy! policies! because! they! are! difficult! to! comprehend! and! ambiguous! (Acquisti!and!Grossklags,!2005;!Acquisti!and!Grossklags,!2005).!
From!the!multiple!regression!analyses,!it!was!found!that!privacy!seal!effectiveness!mediates!only!the!effect! of! security! perception! on! willingness! to! purchase.! In! fact,! it! partially! mediates! the! effect! of! security! perception,!while!partial!mediation!effect!for!informativeness!and!full!mediation!effect!for!awareness!may! not!occur!because!their!effect!on!willingness!to!purchase!had!weak!support.!It!also!should!be!added,!that! the! Sobel! test! confirmed! this! mediation! effect! for! awareness,! although! one! condition! of! the! Baron! and! Kenny’s! test! was! not! satisfied.! The! hypotheses! did! not! consider! the! direct! effects! of! privacy! seal! characteristics!on!willingness!to!purchase,!however!interesting!results!should!be!mentioned.!It!is!curious! that!the!effect!of!security!perception!is!stronger!that!the!one!of!the!mediator!on!willingness!to!purchase! and!that!informativeness!has!a!negative!direct!effect!on!willingness!to!purchase.!!
As! expected,! the! website! trustworthiness! is! the! essential! condition! necessary! for! completing! an! online! transaction,!confirming!the!results!from!previous!researches!(Liu!and!Arnett,!2000;!McKnight!et!al,!2002;! Gefen!and!Straub,!2004).!In!fact,!it!has!the!strongest!influence!on!customers’!willingness!to!purchase!and! explains! alone! more! than! half! of! the! variance! of! willingness! to! purchase.! Moreover,! website! trustworthiness!partially!mediates!the!effect!of!privacy!seal!effectiveness!on!willingness!to!purchase!as!in! previous! studies! (Bart! et! al,! 2005;! Kaplan! and! Nieschwietz,! 2002;! Kim! et! al,! 2007;! Belanger! et! al.! 2002;! Chang!and!Fang!2013;!Hu!et!al,!2009;!Mai!et!al,!2010;!Smith!et!al,!2011).!
The! nation! of! residence! of! the! customers! could! have! an! influence! on! privacy! seal! effectiveness,! website! trustworthiness!and!willingness!to!purchase,!from!the!outcomes!it!was!found!that!participants!who!live!in! the!Netherlands!valuated!more!these!variables!in!comparison!to!those!that!live!in!Switzerland.!Moreover,! no!evidence!was!found!that!suggested!that!gender!may!influence!one!of!those!variables!and!weak!support! was!found!that!support!that!participants!that!are!older!than!50!could!negatively!influence!the!privacy!seal! effectiveness! and! website! trustworthiness.! Previous! research! found! that! older! generations! do! not! understand! the! importance! of! the! seals! in! online! environments! in! comparison! to! younger! consumers,! perhaps!because!younger!consumers!are!more!technology!knowledgeable!(Runyan!et!al,!2008)!
Managerial!implications!
!
statements! of! their! privacy! policies! for! instance! arguing! that! the! data! collection! aims! to! improve! the! customer! experience! or! that! the! personal! information! would! be! stored! for! a! limited! time.! Third,! since! privacy!seal!awareness!has!a!weak!influence!on!privacy!seal!effectiveness,!it!implies!that!customers!believe! in!the!certification!even!they!do!not!know!what!it!exactly!is,!therefore!the!simple!presence!of!a!privacy!seal! can!improve!the!effectiveness!of!privacy!seal!and!consequently!improve!the!website!trustworthiness!and! willingness!to!purchase.!Fourth,!increasing!the!privacy!seal!effectiveness!through!its!characteristics!would! influence! customers’! willingness! to! purchase! directly! and! indirectly! via! website! trustworthiness.! Thus,! endorsing!a!privacy!seal!is!a!good!way!to!influence!the!website!trustworthiness!and!managers!should!select! carefully! the! best! privacy! seal! for! their! targeted! customers.! Finally,! website! trustworthiness! has! the! strongest! impact! on! willingness! to! purchase! and! managers! should! create! the! conditions! to! make! the! website! trustworthy! as! much! as! they! can! because! it! is! the! primary! condition! that! ensures! that! the! transaction!would!occur!between!the!customers!and!the!ecvendor.!
Limitations!and!further!research!
This!research!has!also!some!limitations.!First,!the!sample!size!is!small!and!its!characteristics!may!influence! the!outcomes,!namely!the!majority!of!the!participants!were!females,!the!majority!of!the!respondents!live!in! Switzerland! and! 88.54%! were! under! 30.! Second,! there! were! examined! only! three! privacy! seal! characteristics,!hence!in!future!research!more!characteristics!should!be!considered!such!the!position!of!the! privacy!seal,!the!way!of!informing!the!customers!about!the!privacy!policy!and!the!type!of!privacy!seal!(e.g.! institutional,! security! provider! seal,! privacy! and! data! protection! schemes! privacy! seals).! Third,! in! this! research! it! was! asked! to! respondents! to! evaluate! only! a! privacy! seal! and! future! research! should! include! more!and!check!if!there!are!differences!among!them.!Fourth,!to!the!respondents!it!was!shown!a!website!of! a!fictional!travel!agency!and!this!could!bias!the!privacy!concerns!of!the!participants!in!the!study!because!in! this!situation,!customers!are!more!concerned!about!their!privacy!since!they!have!to!share!their!sensitive! data! (number! of! passport,! credit! card,! address);! therefore! in! future! research! should! include! other! situations.! Finally,! this! research! has,! as! a! dependent! variable,! the! willingness! to! purchase! that! could! be! different!from!the!actual!behavior.!
References!
1. Acquisti!A.!and!Grossklags!J.!(2005)!“Privacy!and!rationality!in!decision!making”.!IEEE!Security!and! Privacy,!pp!24–30!
2. Acquisti,!A.,!and!Grossklags,!J.!(2005,!June).!Uncertainty,!Ambiguity!and!Privacy.!In!WEIS.!
3. Baron,! R.! M.,! and! Kenny,! D.! A.! (1986).! The! moderator–mediator! variable! distinction! in! social! psychological!research:!Conceptual,!strategic,!and!statistical!considerations.!Journal!of!personality!
and!social!psychology,!51(6),!1173.!
4. Bart,!Y.,!Shankar,!V.,!Sultan,!F.,!and!Urban,!G.!L.!(2005).!Are!the!drivers!and!role!of!online!trust!the! same! for! all! web! sites! and! consumers?! A! largecscale! exploratory! empirical! study.!Journal! of!
marketing,!69(4),!pp!133c152.!
5. Bavarsad! B.,! Rahimi! R.,! Mennatyan! M.A.! (2013)! “Developing! a! MIMIC! Model! for! EcShopping! Purchase!Intention”!World!Applied!Programming!3!(7),!pp!293c301!
6. Belanger! F.,! Hiller! J.S.,! Smith! W.J.! (2002)! “Trustworthiness! in! electronic! commerce:! the! role! of! privacy,!security,!and!site!attributes”!Journal!of!Strategic!Information!Systems!11,!pp!245c270! 7. Chen,!Y.!H.,!and!Barnes,!S.!(2007).!Initial!trust!and!online!buyer!behaviour.Industrial!Management!
&!Data!Systems,!107(1),!21c36.!
8. Chang! Y.C.,! Fang! S.R.! (2013)! “Antecedents! and! distinctions! between! online! trust! and! distrust:! predicting!highc!and!lowcrisk!internet!behaviors”!Journal!of!Electronic!Commerce!Research!14(2),!pp! 149c166!
9. Chang,! H.! H.,! and! Chen,! W.S.! (2008).! The! impact! of! online! store! environment! cues! on! purchase! intention:!Trust!and!perceived!risk!as!a!mediator.!Online!information!review,!32(6),!818c841.!
10. Cheng,!T.!E.,!Lam,!D.!Y.,!and!Yeung,!A.!C.!(2006).!Adoption!of!internet!banking:!an!empirical!study!in! Hong!Kong.!Decision!support!systems,!42(3),!1558c1572.!
11. Corbitt,! B.! J.,! Thanasankit,! T.,! and! Yi,! H.! (2003)! “Trust! and! eccommerce:! a! study! of! consumer! perceptions.!Electronic!commerce!research!and!applications”!2(3),!203c215.!
12. Cranor!L.F.,!Reagle!J.,!Ackerman!M.S.!!(1999)!“Beyond!Concern:!Understanding!Net!Users'!Attitudes! about! Online! Privacy”! AT&T! LabsVResearch! Technical! Report,! accessed! on! 08/03/2014! [http://arxiv.org/html/cs/9904010/report.htm]!
13. Doney,! P.! M.,! Cannon,! J.! P.,! and! Mullen,! M.! R.! (1998).! Understanding! the! influence! of! national! culture!on!the!development!of!trust.!Academy!of!management!review,!23(3),!601c620.!
!
15. Dwoskin!E.!and!Gryta!T.!(2015)!“AT&T!Offers!Data!Privacy!—!for!a!Price”!Wall!Street!Journal!18th! February! 2015,! accessed! on! 8th! March! 2015! [http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/02/18/attcoffersc datacprivacycforcacprice/]!
16. Edelman!(2009)!“Adverse!Selection!in!Online!“Trust”!Certifications”!Harvard!Business!School!!ICEC! ’09,!August!12V15,!2009,!Taipei,!Taiwan!
17. Fortune! (2015)! “World's! Most! Admired! Companies! 2015”,! accessed! on! 21st! April! 2015!
[http://fortune.com/worldscmostcadmiredccompanies/expediac100000/]!
18. FTC! “TRUSTe! Settles! FTC! Charges! it! Deceived! Consumers! Through! Its! Privacy! Seal! Program”! 17th! November! 2014,! accessed! on! 13th! March! 2015! [https://www.ftc.gov/newscevents/pressc releases/2014/11/trustecsettlescftccchargescitcdeceivedcconsumerscthroughcits]!
19. Garbarino,!E.,!and!Johnson,!M.!S.!(1999).!The!different!roles!of!satisfaction,!trust,!and!commitment! in!customer!relationships.!the!Journal!of!Marketing,!70c87.!
20. Gefen,!D.!(2000).!Eccommerce:!the!role!of!familiarity!and!trust.!Omega,!28(6),!725c737!
21. Gefen,! D.,! Rose,! G.! M.,! Warkentin,! M.,! and! Pavlou,! P.! (2005).! Cultural! diversity! and! trust! in! IT! adoption.!Journal!of!Global!Information!Management,!13(1),!54c78.!
22. George,!D.,!and!Mallery,!P.!(2003).!SPSS!for!Windows!step!by!step:!A!simple!guide!and!reference.! (4th!ed.).!Boston:!Allyn!&!Bacon!!
23. Hair,! J.! F.,! Black,! W.! C.,! Babin,! B.! J.,! Anderson,! R.! E.,! and! Tatham,! R.! L.! (2006).Multivariate! data!
analysis!(Vol.!6).!Upper!Saddle!River,!NJ:!Pearson!Prentice!Hall.!
24. Harkness,! J.! A.,! and! SchouacGlusberg,! A.! (1998).! Questionnaires! in! translation.ZUMAVNachrichten!
Spezial,!3(1),!87c127.!
25. Harrigan,!P.,!Ramsey,!E.,!and!Ibbotson,!P.!(2008).!ecCRM!in!SMEs:!an!exploratory!study!in!Northern! Ireland.!Marketing!Intelligence!and!Planning,!26(4),!385c404!
26. Harrigan,!P.,!Ramsey,!E.,!and!Ibbotson,!P.!(2011).!Critical!factors!underpinning!the!ecCRM!activities! of!SMEs.!Journal!of!Marketing!Management,!27(5c6),!503c529.!
27. Holst! C.! (2013)! “Which! Site! Seal! do! People! Trust! the! Most?! (2013! Survey! Results)”! Baymar! 22nd! January!2013,!accessed!on!11th!March!2015![http://baymard.com/blog/sitecsealctrust]!
28. Hsiao,! K.! L.,! ChuancChuan! Lin,! J.,! Wang,! X.! Y.,! Lu,! H.! P.,! and! Yu,! H.! (2010)! “Antecedents! and! consequences! of! trust! in! online! product! recommendations:! An! empirical! study! in! social! shopping”!Online!Information!Review,!34(6),!935c953.!
29. Hu! X.,! Wu! G.,! Wu! Y.,! Zhang! H.! (2010)! “The! effects! of! Web! assurance! seals! on! consumers'! initial! trust!in!an!online!vendor:!A!functional!perspective”!Decision!Support!Systems!48,!pp!407c418!
30. Huang,! L.! T.,! Yin,! K.! L.,! and! Farn,! C.! K.! (2006).! Revisiting! the! effectiveness! of! institutional! antecedents!in!building!oncline!initial!trust!from!the!perspective!of!signal!theory.!Journal!of!Global!
31. Kaplan,! S.! E.,! and! Nieschwietz,! R.! J.! (2003)! “A! Web! assurance! services! model! of! trust! for! B2C! ec commerce”!International!Journal!of!Accounting!Information!Systems,!4(2),!95c114.!
32. Keller,!K.!(2013).!Strategic!Brand!Management:!Global!Edition.!Pearson!Higher!Ed.!
33. Kim,! D.,! and! Benbasat,! I.! (2010)! “Designs! for! effective! implementation! of! trust! assurances! in! internet!stores”!Communications!of!the!ACM,!53(2),!121c126.!
34. Kim!D.J.,!Ferrin!D.L.,!Rao!H.R.!(2008)!“A!trustcbased!consumer!decisioncmaking!model!in!electronic! commerce:!The!role!of!trust,!perceived!risk,!and!their!antecedents”!Decision!Support!Systems!44,! pp!544c564!
35. Kim! D.! J.,! Steinfield! C.,! Lai! Y.J.! (2008)! “Revisiting! the! role! of! Web! assurance! seals! in! businessctoc consumer!electronic!commerce”!Decision!Support!Systems!44(4),pp!1000c1015!
36. Koehn,!D.!(2003).!The!nature!of!and!conditions!for!online!trust.!Journal!of!Business!Ethics,!43(1c2),! 3c19!
37. Koufaris,! Marios,! and! William! HamptoncSosa.! "The! development! of! initial! trust! in! an! online! company!by!new!customers."!Information!and!Management!41.3!(2004):!377c397.!
38. Larose! R.! and! Rifon! N.J.! (2006)! “Your! privacy! is! assured! c! of! being! disturbed:! websites! with! and! without!privacy!seals”!New!Media!and!Society!8(6),!pp!1009c1029!
39. Larose!R.!and!Rifon!N.J.!(2007)!“Promoting!icSafety:!Effects!of!Privacy!Warnings!and!Privacy!Seals!on! Risk!Assessment!and!Online!Privacy!Behavior”!The!Journal!of!Consumer!Affairs!41(1),!pp!127c149! 40. Larose!R.,!Rifon!N.J.,!Choi!S.J.!(2005)!“Your!Privacy!Is!Sealed:!Effects!of!Web!Privacy!Seals!on!Trust!
and!Personal!Disclosures”!The!Journal!of!Consumer!Affairs!39(2),!pp!339c362!
41. Lee,! Z.! C.,! and! Yurchisin,! J.! (2011).! The! impact! of! website! attractiveness,! consumercwebsite! identification,! and! website! trustworthiness! on! purchase! intention.!International! Journal! of!
Electronic!Customer!Relationship!Management,!5(3),!272c287.!
42. Lim,! N.! (2003).! Consumers’! perceived! risk:! sources! versus! consequences.Electronic! Commerce!
Research!and!Applications,!2(3),!216c228!
43. Ling! K.W.,! bin! Daud! D.,! Piew! T.H.,! Keoy! K.H.,! Hassan! P,! (2011)! “Perceived! Risk,! Perceived! Technology,! Online! Trust! for! the! Online! Purchase! Intention! in! Malaysia”! International! Journal! of! Business!and!Management!6(6),!pp!167c182!
44. Liu!C.,!Arnett!K.P.!(2000)!“Exploring!the!factors!associated!with!Web!site!success!in!the!context!of! electronic!commerce”!Information!&!Management!38,!pp!23c33!
45. Liu! C.,! Marchewkab! J.T.,! Luc! J.,! Yu! C.S.! (2004)! “Beyond! concern—a! privacyctrustcbehavioral! intention!model!of!electronic!commerce”!Information!&!Management!42,!pp!289c304!
46. Lumsden,! J.,! and! MacKay,! L.! (2006).! How! does! personality! affect! trust! in! B2C! eccommerce?.!
!
47. Mai! B.,! Menon! N.M.,! Sarkar! S.! (2010)! “No! Free! Lunch:! Price! Premium! for! Privacy! Seal–Bearing! Vendors”!Journal!of!Management!Information!Systems!27(2),!pp!189c212!
48. McKnight,! D.! H.,! Choudhury,! V.,! and! Kacmar,! C.! (2002).! The! impact! of! initial! consumer! trust! on! intentions!to!transact!with!a!web!site:!a!trust!building!model.The!Journal!of!Strategic!Information!
Systems,!11(3),!297c323.!
49. McKnight!D.H.,!Kacmar!C.J.,!Choudhury!V.!(2004)!“Shifting!factors!and!the!ineffectiveness!of!third! party! assurance! seals:! a! twocstage! model! of! initial! trust! in! a! web! business”! Electronic! Markets! 14(3),!pp!252–266.!
50. Moores! T.T.! (2005)! “Do! consumers! understand! the! role! of! privacy! seals! in! eccommerce?”! Communications!of!the!ACM!48(3),!pp!86c91! 51. Moores!T.T.!and!Dhillon!G.!(2003)!“Do!Privacy!Seals!in!EcCommerce!Really!Work?”!Communications! of!the!ACM!46(12),!pp!265c271! 52. Nam!C.,!Song!C.,!Lee!E.,!Park!C.I.!(2006)!“Consumers’!Privacy!Concerns!and!Willingness!to!Provide! MarketingcRelated!Personal!Information!Online”!Advances!in!Consumer!Research!33,!pp!212c217! 53. Odom,!M.!D.,!Kumar,!A.,!and!Saunders,!L.!(2002).!Web!assurance!seals:!how!and!why!they!influence! consumers'!decisions.!Journal!of!Information!Systems,16(2),!231c250.!
54. Özpolat,! K.,! and! Jank,! W.! (2015).! Getting! the! most! out! of! third! party! trust! seals:! An! empirical! analysis.!Decision!Support!Systems,!73,!47c56.!
55. Portz,!K.,!Strong,!J.!M.,!and!Sundby,!L.!(2011).!To!trust!or!not!to!trust:!the!impact!of!WebTrust!on! the! perceived! trustworthiness! of! a! web! site.!Review! of! Business! Information! Systems! (RBIS),!5(3),! 35c50.! 56. Preacher,!K.!J.,!and!Leonardelli,!G.!J.!(2001).!Calculation!for!the!Sobel!test.Retrieved!November,!1,! 2008.![http://quantpsy.org/sobel/sobel.htm]! 57. Reinartz,!W.!J.,!and!Kumar,!V.!(2000).!On!the!profitability!of!longclife!customers!in!a!noncontractual! setting:!An!empirical!investigation!and!implications!for!marketing.!Journal!of!marketing,!64(4),!17c 35!
58. Rhee! J.! (2010)! “Terror! Group! Gets! 'A'! Rating! From! Better! Business! Bureau?”! ABC! News! 12th! November! 2010,! accessed! on! 12th! March! 2015! [http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/businesscbureauc bestcratingscmoneycbuy/story?id=12123843]!
59. Riedl,!R.,!Hubert,!M.,!and!Kenning,!P.!(2010)!“Are!there!neural!gender!differences!in!online!trust?! An!fMRI!study!on!the!perceived!trustworthiness!of!eBay!offers”!Mis!Quarterly,!34(2),!397c428.! 60. Riegelsberger,! J.,! Sasse,! M.! A.,! and! McCarthy,! J.! D.! (2003).! Shiny! happy! people! building! trust?:!
photos! on! eccommerce! websites! and! consumer! trust.! InProceedings! of! the! SIGCHI! conference! on!
61. Rodrigues,! R.,! BarnardcWills,! D.,! Wright,! D.,! De! Hert,! P.,! Papakonstantinou,! V.,! Beslay,! L.,! ...! and! JUST,!E.!(2013).!EU!Privacy!seals!project.!Publications!Office!of!the!European!Union.!
62. Runyan,!B.,!Smith,!K.!T.,!and!Smith,!L.!M.!(2008,!March).!Implications!of!Web!assurance!services!on! eccommerce.!In!Accounting!Forum!(Vol.!32,!No.!1,!pp.!46c61).!Elsevier.!
63. San,!Y.!W.,!Fraser!Business!Park,!K.!L.,!and!Yazdanifard,!R.!(2014)!“How!Consumer!Decision!Making! Process! Differ! From! Youngster! To! Older! Consumer! Generation”! Global! Journal! of! Commerce! &!
Management!Perspective!3(2),!39c43!
64. Smith,! H.! J.,! Dinev,! T.,! and! Xu,! H.! (2011).! Information! privacy! research:! an! interdisciplinary! review.!MIS!quarterly,!35(4),!989c1016.!
65. Sobel,! M.! E.! (1982).! Asymptotic! confidence! intervals! for! indirect! effects! in! structural! equation! models.!Sociological!methodology,!13(1982),!290c312.!
66. Steinbrück,!U.,!Schaumburg,!H.,!Duda,!S.,!and!Krüger,!T.!(2002,!April).!A!picture!says!more!than!a! thousand! words:! photographs! as! trust! builders! in! eccommerce! websites.! In!CHI'02! extended!
abstracts!on!Human!factors!in!computing!systems(pp.!748c749).!ACM.! 67. Tomlinson!K.!(2010)!“Better!Business!Bureau!accused!of!biased!ratings”!CBC!News!23rd!November! 2010,!accessed!on!14th!March!2015![http://www.cbc.ca/news/bettercbusinesscbureaucaccusedcofc biasedcratingsc1.886285]! 68. Treiblmaier!H.!and!Chong!S.!(2007)!"Antecedents!of!the!Intention!to!Disclose!Personal!Information! on!the!Internet:!A!Review!and!Model!Extension"!SIGHCI!2007!Proceedings!Special!Interest!Group!on! HumanVComputer!Interaction!Paper!19!
69. Tsai! J.Y.,! Egelman! S.,! Cranor! L.,! Acquisti! A.! (2011)! “The! Effect! of! Online! Privacy! Information! on! Purchasing!Behavior:!An!Experimental!Study”!Information!Systems!Research!22(2),!pp.!254c268! 70. U.S.! Department! of! State! –! Bureau! of! Consular! Affair! (2015)! “International! Financial! Scams”!
accessed! on! 23rd! April! 2015!
[http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/emergencies/scams.html]!
71. Yang,!S.!C.,!Hung,!W.!C.,!Sung,!K.,!and!Farn,!C.!K.!(2006).!Investigating!initial!trust!toward!ectailers! from!the!elaboration!likelihood!model!perspective.Psychology!and!Marketing,!23(5),!429.!
72. Yoo,! B.,! and! Donthu,! N.! (2001).! Developing! and! validating! a! multidimensional! consumercbased! brand!equity!scale.!Journal!of!business!research,!52(1),!1c14.!
! !
!
Appendix!A!
!
! ! Measuring!the!variables! Questions! Question!1:!Security!perception!(modified)!(Cheng!et!al,!2006)! • I!would!feel!secure!sending!sensitive!information!when!this!privacy!seal!is!present!! • When!this!privacy!seal!is!present,!it!is!a!secure!means!through!which!to!send!sensitive!information!! • I! would! feel! totally! safe! providing! sensitive! information! about! myself! when! this! privacy! seal! is!
present!
!
Appendix!C!
Table!1!Model!1! DV!=!Eff!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
SP! 0.547! 10.602! 0.000! 1,274! Infy! 0.074! 1.608! 0.109! 1.003! Aww! 0.234! 4.546! 0.000! 1.271! F(3,!249)!=!76.734,!pcvalue!<!0.01! R!=!0.693! R2!=!0.480! Adjusted!R2!=!0.474! ! Table!2! Model!2! DV!=!Eff!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
Table!3! Model!3! DV!=!W2P!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
SP! 0.488! 8.106! 0.000! 1,274! Infy! c0.100! c1.870! 0.063! 1.003! Aww! 0.086! 1.426! 0.155! 1.271! F(3,!249)!=!33.933,!pcvalue!<!0.01! R!=!0.539! R2!=!0.290! Adjusted!R2!=!0.282! ! Table!4! Model!4! DV!=!W2P!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
! Table!5! Model!5! DV!=!W2P!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
SP! 0.379! 5.285! 0.000! 1,849! Infy! c0.115! c2.163! 0.031! 1.014! Aww! 0.039! 0.629! 0.530! 1.376! Eff! 0.201! 2.744! 0.007! 1.925! F(4,!248)!=!28.000,!pcvalue!<!0.01! R!=!0.558! R2!=!0.311! Adjusted!R2!=!0.300! ! Table!6! Model!6! DV!=!W2P!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
Table!7! Model!7! DV!=!WebT!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
Eff! 0.465! 8.327! 0.000! 1.000! F(1,!251)!=!69.346,!pcvalue!<!0.01! R!=!0.465! R2!=!0.216! Adjusted!R2!=!0.213! ! Table!8! Model!8! DV!=!WebT!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
! Table!9! Model!9! DV!=!W2P!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
WebT! 0.710! 15.975! 0.000! 1.000! F(1,!252)!=!255.195,!pcvalue!<!0.01! R!=!0.710! R2!=!0.504! Adjusted!R2!=!0.502! ! Table!10! Model!10! DV!=!WebT!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
Table!11! Model!11! DV!=!W2P!
! Beta! t! Significance! VIF!
Eff! 0.150! 2.984! 0.003! 1.327! WebT! 0.622! 12.286! 0000! 1.343! Gender! 0.053! 1.184! 0.238! 1.042! Netherlands! 0.040! 0.884! 0.378! 1.094! Italy! 0.064! 1.431! 0.154! 1.045! Other! 0.060! 1.307! 0.192! 1.003! Age!30c50! 0.001! 0.025! 0.980! 1.037! Age!over!50! 0.018! 0.410! 0.682! 1.064! F(8,!244)!=!34.968,!pcvalue!<!0.01! R!=!0.731! R2!=!0.534! Adjusted!R2!=!0.519! ! Sobel!test!
The!formula!for!the!Sobel!test!is:!zcvalue!=!a*b/SQRT(b2*sa2!+!a2*sb2);!where!a!is!the!raw!(unstandardized)! regression! coefficient! for! the! association! between! IV! and! mediator,!sa!the! standard! error! of!a,! b!the! raw! coefficient!for!the!association!between!the!mediator!and!the!DV!(when!the!IV!is!also!a!predictor!of!the!DV)! and!sb!=!standard!error!of!b.!
! Sobel!test!for!the!mediation!effect!of!privacy!seal!effectiveness!of!privacy!seal!characteristics!on!willingness! to!purchase! ! Z! Twoctailed!pcvalue! Security!perception! 3.331751972 0.000863011 Informativeness! 1.512266337 0.130466121 Awareness! 2.734262131 0.006252025 ! For!the!second!mediation,!the!a!are!the!unstandardized!betas!of!the!Model!8!and!b!is!the!unstandardized! betas!of!the!Model!11.! ! B! Standard!error! Privacy!seal!effectiveness! 0.306! 0.043! Website!trustworthiness! 0.912! 0.074! !
Sobel! test! for! the! mediation! effect! of! website! trustworthiness! of! privacy! seal! effectiveness! privacy! on! willingness!to!purchase!
! Z! Twoctailed!pcvalue!
Privacy!seal!effectiveness! 6.162699358 0.000000000715
