Factors Influencing Online Brand Trust: Evidence From Online Buyers in Kathmandu Valley

Journal of Business and Social Sciences Research (JBSSR), Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.
47-64
© JBSSR/AIM, 2018, ISSN: 2542-2812.
Factors Influencing Online Brand Trust: Evidence

from Online Buyers in Kathmandu Valley
Bina Kharel1
ABSTRACT
purchasing behavior in the Kathmandu Valley and understand the relationship

between trust and the independent factors of trust in their buying behavior. The
analysis is descriptive in nature and focuses on hypothesis testing using a
structured questionnaire and interview to collect primary data from a sample
size of 200 respondents focusing on jobholders, business people, students and
housewives. The secondary data is taken based on reports, published articles,
websites and journals. Results of the study indicate that a majority of the
respondents believe trust is an important factor for online purchase. Though
some of the respondents feel that time-saving is one of the important factors for
purchasing online, 56 percent of the respondents prefer to shop online only
three times a year. The study also shows that the maximum number of
respondents prefer buying tickets more than any other commodity online. Even
though priority has been given to brand reputation, respondents did not find
information as an important factor influencing an online purchasing decision.
Keywords: trust, e-commerce, primary data, descriptive and inferential statistics
1. Introduction
Online shopping has allowed consumers to buy from any part of the world which
has been a part of globalization. Though previously the Internet was seen as a piece
of information disseminating channel, people now use it for multiple purposes. We
can see consumers who are turning to the Internet all around the world for their
shopping and even for business purposes. Unlike a physical store, an e-commerce
store stays up and running twenty-four hours a day which has created opportunities
for businesses.
The global reach of the Internet has given opportunities to many people to purchase
goods and services of different varieties from different locations. Today, 60 percent
of shoppers in developed countries go to the internet to buy goods and services.
This method of shopping is loved because it is convenient. However, Internet
1
Ms. Kharel is MBA graduate of Ace Institute of Management, Affiliated to Pokhara University.
Corresponding Email: [email protected]
Kharel:
shopping involves more uncertainty and risk than traditional shopping. Customers
all around the world vary in perception and purchasing behavior. There are a few
significant factors responsible for a successful e-commerce business. According to
some researches, trust, security, privacy and quality of goods are the major factors
that should be considered to influence consumer buying behavior. Among these,
trust is the most important factor influencing consumer buying behavior.
E-commerce has revolutionized the way companies do business. It is expanding
tremendously because of its complete range of benefits that any industry can enjoy.
For many people in the world, e-commerce becomes one of the preferred ways of
shopping as they find it easy and convenient. According to Nepal
Telecommunication Authority, as of 2017, there were 14.18 million Internet
subscribers in the country, or nearly 56 percent of the national population of 26.49
million. The report shows that Internet penetration has increased by a whopping
18.22 percent over the year ending mid-February. Almost all the growth in web
connectivity has come from mobiles as more and more people are using social
media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The most preferred e-commerce
websites in Nepal are Thamel.com, Sastodeal.com, and Muncha.com which has
increased the rate of online buying.
The world today relies on the Internet. E-commerce is now a major part of the
Internet. Many companies and countries have started selling online. The number of
consumers has increased with the increase in online companies as many people
find it easy and accessible to gather much information about products from
anywhere. However, Nepali consumers are still in the experimental stage of online
shopping. Consumers are still looking more for online brands and are trying to
differentiate them from the stores. Lack of proper knowledge and awareness among
the generation is still a major hurdle in e-commerce.
Even after having dozens of virtual Nepali stores on the web, they still have the
same problem of payment and belief of people and they still have a level of trust to
build among the visitors. The consumers simply do not trust the web providers
enough to share their personal information and money. The other few challenges of
e-commerce in Nepal are education, payment gateway, competitors, delivery and
returns. For this, brands must establish trust with customers to make the Internet a
viable medium. Similarly, the users must feel that their information is protected
and not used for other purposes without their permission. There should also be
different online payment system verification guided with the start-to-end process
for making the business online. It is important for every e-commerce business to
address the trust issues of the customers.
The primary reasons behind conducting this study are to identify the priorities of
people while purchasing online and to create a resource for e-commerce businesses to
Journal of Business and Social Sciences Research (JBSSR), Vol. 3, No. 1, 2018
work on the challenges faced in retaining and attracting large numbers of customers.
For the study, it is important to understand the factors that establish trust in e-
commerce. So, this study has examined to answer the following questions:
What are the factors that influence consumers to purchase online brands in
the Kathmandu Valley?
Is there any significant relationship between trust and the independent
factors of trust in consumers’ buying behavior?
With the change in information technology and revolution in the society, Internet
and technology have started to become the backbone of any industry. Many
organizations have now started to believe that reaching people through the Internet
is important as almost all the people spend their time on the Internet at least two to
three times a day. With this, it is important to build online trust among the people.
This study helps in identifying the trust issues among people in online shopping
and deal with appropriate strategies.
This study can be the reference for creating strategies to build trust among
consumers for the success of e-commerce markets in Nepal. A better understanding
of consumers’ preferences for shopping online around the world shall give valuable
insights to both academia and business firms, to improve theories, products and
services, and electronic storefronts.
This study will be beneficial for those who want to conduct research in a similar
context in the future as there are very few researches on consumer trust in e-
commerce in Nepal’s context as of now. Also, additional influencing factors can be
identified and tested out by researchers in determining the buying behavior of
consumers.
2. The Literature Review
Alam and Yasin (2010) examine online brand trust and its influencing factors in
the specific context of online air ticket buyers in Malaysia. Summarizing academic
literature on online brand trust drivers, it was found that there is a need to conduct
research on online brand trust. Accordingly, hypotheses are that word-of-mouth,
online experience, security/privacy, perceived risk, brand reputation and quality
information have a significant influence on online brand trust. The hypothesis is
being tested in terms of mentioned variables, on online airline ticket buyers in
Malaysia.
Shim et al. (2001) define their study that the factor that influences the consumers’
intention to purchase online is their previous online shopping experience.
Consumers will continue to shop on the Internet in the future if they are satisfied
with their online shopping experience and it was evaluated positively. Consumers’
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perceived risk will tend to reduce when they are satisfied with their shopping
experience.
Lim et al. (2016) conducted research on Factors Influencing Online Shopping
Behavior. They conducted research to determine the relationship between
subjective norm, perceived usefulness and online shopping behavior while
mediated by purchase intention. The conclusion has depicted that subjective norm
and perceived usefulness positively influence online purchase intention
significantly but subjective norm insignificantly influences shopping behavior in a
negative way. It is interesting to note that perceived usefulness also insignificantly
influences online shopping behavior. The finding also revealed that purchase
intention positively influences online shopping behavior significantly.
Park and Kim (2003) attempted to identify the key factors affecting consumer
purchase behavior in an online shopping context. The study investigated the
relationship between various characteristics of online shopping and consumer
purchase behavior. Results of the online survey among 602 Korean customers of
online bookstores indicated that information quality, user interface quality, and
security perceptions affect information satisfaction and relational benefit that, in
turn, are significantly related to each consumer’s site commitment and actual
purchase behavior. They investigated how the content and presentation of product
and service information affect consumers’ willingness to patronize an online store.
Finally, they identified and discussed several factors affecting consumers’ purchase
behavior as well as their perception and satisfaction.
Kamari and Kamari (2012) presented a study on building online trust among
consumers. This model outlines some of the key factors that are related to this area
and suggests a framework based on these factors. With respect to the position and
importance of trust in online commerce, this model helps businesses capture,
sustain and construct long-term relationships with their customers. In this study,
trust is believed to be the key to building relationships with customers on the
Internet.
Kim and Benbasat (2006) conducted a study on the effects of Trust Assuring
Arguments on Consumer Trust in Internet Stores. They attempted to investigate
whether the provision of trust-assuring arguments on the website of an Internet
store increases consumer trust in the Internet store and to identify the most
effective form of trust-assuring arguments to provide guidelines for their
implementation. The results indicate (1) providing trust-assuring arguments that
consist of claim plus data or claim plus data and backing increases consumers'
trusting belief but displaying arguments that contain claim only does not and (2)
trust-assuring arguments that include claim plus data and backing lead to the
highest level of trusting belief among the three forms of arguments examined in
this study.
Tsai and Yeh (2010) investigated the perceived risk that is related to information
security and privacy during online shopping. In this study, the technology
acceptance model was used as a framework to explore website characteristics
related to the perceived risk of information security and purchase intention. The
study showed that perceived risk of information security and privacy on a website
are strongly related to purchase decision. The study examines consumers’
perceived risk of information security and privacy when they buy goods on the
Internet.
Banerjee and Banerjee (2012) examine the factors that determine the Indian
consumers’ online trust. To conduct an empirical investigation, a survey among
262 consumers with online shopping experience was conducted using a
questionnaire. The respondents were randomly selected to remove the biases in
samples. The samples consisted of consumers living in one major city in India.
Random people were chosen from households who are a part of the consumer
group. The respondents were randomly picked from those who are 18 years of age
and above, of both sexes, either earning or with access to expendable income, and
who have made an online purchase at least once in the last four months.
Hoffman and Novak (1999) conducted a study on building customer trust online.
The study was conducted to identify how merchants can win back lost customer
trust in the interest of e-commerce sales. Through the study, they found that
consumer expectations of privacy depend on the medium. In traditional media, it is
well-known that consumer attitudes toward privacy invasion range from tolerance
to resigned disgust. But in electronic media, consumers are making it clear that
their need for control and protection is intense. Their research suggested that
consumers do realize that personal data is important to Web marketers and, perhaps
surprisingly, report being interested in providing such information.
Kraeuter (2002) examines the role of consumer trust as the diffusion and
acceptance of electronic commerce. Starting from a functional perspective, trust
is seen as a distinct but potentially coexisting mechanism for reducing the
uncertainty and complexity of transactions and relationships in electronic
markets. The analysis focuses on the conditions of e-commerce transactions that
are relevant to the formation of trust problems. The study identifies several
factors associated with trust in electronic commerce. They are individual
characteristics of the trust or, basic willingness, the experience of an individual to
trust.
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This study aims to validate a theory-based model for trust in an Internet store and
tests two specific trust-building strategies. The research model hypothesizes that
both portal affiliation and satisfied customer endorsement positively affect
customers’ trusting beliefs. Trusting beliefs, in turn, lead to positive attitudes
toward the store, an increase in willingness to buy, and ultimately an increase in
actual buying behavior from that store.
The reviewed articles are all based upon international context. The collection of
data, analysis and findings is limited to foreign markets which are quite different
from Nepali market. They have not covered the behavioral pattern of Nepali
customers and their trust factors in e-commerce. Also, the key paper conducted
also needs to be updated as the technology factor changes frequently within a short
period of time. This research work has tried to work on the gaps of such studies.
The researcher has explored the factors influencing consumer’s trust in e-
commerce. Apart from the factors of the trust stated in reviewed articles, the
researcher has also tried to figure out the additional factors influencing customers’
buying behavior.
This study has been divided into five sections. They are introduction, the literature
review, the research methodology, data analysis and presentation, summary and
conclusions. Section one, the introduction section has given a brief outline of the
topic of the study. This section includes the objective of the research studies in the
context of Nepal and the gap in the research. Section two includes the literature
review and the structure of the organization.
Section three includes the methodology of the research, the conceptual framework
and its specifications. Section four includes an analysis of the data and the
presentation of the findings and results. The final section represents a summary,
conclusion and recommendation for the various stakeholders and future
researchers. All the necessary appendixes have also been included after the
bibliography.
3. The Methodology
This study tries to understand the factors that influence trust when purchasing
online in the Kathmandu Valley and examine the factors important for the
consumers to purchase online. The study focuses on finding the consumers’ online
buying behavior based on different factors like gender, age, occupation and many
other variables associated. For this, both qualitative and quantitative research
methodologies are used. Non-probability convenient sampling is adopted where
certain samples are included with convenience of the researcher. The respondents
include people from heterogeneous groups in the Kathmandu Valley, i.e., students,
business people, jobholders and housewives.
3.1 The Basic Model

The theoretical framework of this study is based on the research conducted by
Alam and Yasin (2010). This paper has examined the online brand and its
influencing factors in the specific context of online air ticket buyers in Malaysia.
From the findings of the study, security, word of mouth, quality of information,
online experience, brand reputation and quality of information have a significant
relationship with online brand trust. This study provides a result with findings and
limitations.
Independent Variables
Security
Word of Mouth Dependent Variable
Information Consumers’ Trust in
Past Experience E-commerce
Brand Reputation
Integrity
Perceived Risk
Price
Perceived Value
Time Saving
Convenience
Competency
Privacy
Moderating Variables
Gender
Age
Education
Occupation
Income
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

a) Independent Variables
Independent variables are variables which determine the value of the dependent
variable, i.e., there are various factors which influence consumers’ trust in e-
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commerce. Thirteen variables are used as independent variables for the study.
Likert Scale is used to measure the factors influencing online brand trust.
b) Moderating Variables
A moderating variable is a third variable that affects the strength of the relationship
between a dependent and independent variable in correlation. These variables
include demographic variables which are Gender, Age, Education, Occupation and
Income which help to identify in influencing the customers’ trust. For the
measurement of moderating variables single-response questions have been used in
the study.
c) Dependent Variables
A dependent variable is a variable that the researcher is interested in. The
dependent variable for this research study is "Consumers’ Trust in Ecommerce".
3.2 The Data
Populations for this study are consumers within the Kathmandu Valley who are
familiar with e-commerce websites and have experienced their services. The
overall survey and study are guided by the objectives of the study. The sample size
is 200 and convenience random sampling has been used in this study. Although the
sample size is very small in comparison to the population, sufficient efforts have
been made to make the sample represent the whole population. For the accuracy of
the result, only those respondents are selected who are aware of e-commerce
websites. Also, a few published articles and journals are taken as a reference for
secondary data. Out of the 200 respondents, 95 are male and 105 are female. The
survey was conducted only after receiving approval from the respondents. The
response collected from the respondents is coded and entered in the SPSS
worksheet. After the coding, appropriate analysis is done.
4. Results and Discussion
To analyze and interpret the data, SPSS and Microsoft Excel are used. For the
presentation of data, tools like table and figure are used. Moreover, other tools like
ANOVA test, t-tests, mean, standard deviation and frequency distribution are
employed to draw inferences from the collected responses.
Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

No. of Respondents Percentage of
S.No. Demographic Variables
(200) Respondents (100%)
1. Gender
Male 95 47.5
Female 105 52.5
2. Age Group
16-19 54 27
20-29 72 36
30-39 55 27.5
40 and above 19 9.5
3. Education Level
Up to Intermediate or Plus Two 64 32
Undergraduate 43 21.5
Graduate 64 32
Post Graduate 29 14.5
4. Occupation
Student 80 40
Business person 41 20.5
Jobholder 65 32.5
Housewife 14 7
5 Monthly Income Group
Less than 15,000 74 37
15,000-30,000 45 22.5
30,000-45,000 50 25
More than 45,000 31 15.5
According to the survey data summarized in Table 1, out of the 200 respondents,
95 are male and 105 are female. This shows that the participation of females is
more than males out of 200 respondents in an online purchase. The sampling is
divided on the basis of age group where the majority of them are from the 20-29-
year age group covering 36 percent of total respondents, 27.5 percent are from the
30-39 age group, 27 percent of respondents are from the 16-19 age group and 9.5
percent from the 40 years and above age group. This shows that the people of age
20-29 are the most active online purchasers in the Kathmandu Valley.
Majority of the respondents are from the intermediate category followed by the
undergraduate and postgraduate groups, respectively. The percentage of
respondents from the intermediate and graduate groups is 32 percent each,
followed by with 21.5 percent from the undergraduate group and 14.5 percent from
the postgraduate group. This study shows that majority of the respondents engaged
in online purchase are students. Similarly, 32.5 percent of respondents are
jobholders, 20.5 percent are business people and 7 percent are housewives.
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Majority of the respondents (37 percent) in this survey have earning of less than
NPR 15,000. Respondents earning more than NPR 45,000 form the smallest group
(15.5 percent) in this survey.
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in the study.
They guide in providing a summary from the sample. The data analysis presented
below on the primary data is obtained from the questionnaire designed for the
study.
Table 2. Distribution by How Often People Buy Online
Times of Online Purchase Frequency Percent
Weekly 7 3.5
Bi-monthly 22 11
Monthly 59 29.5
Quarterly 112 56
Total 200 100
Table 2 shows that 56 percent of the respondents shop online once every quarter a
year. Similarly, 29.5 percent of the respondents shop online once a month, 11
percent twice a month and 3.5 percent once a week. This shows that majority of the
respondents are not highly active in online shopping.
Table 3. Distribution by Trust as an Important Factor
Trust as an Important Factor Frequency Percent
Yes 194 97
No 6 3
Total 200 100
Table 3 shows that out of the 200 respondents, 97 percent consider trust as an
important factor for online purchase, while 3 percent of the respondents do not
consider trust as an important factor for online purchase. This shows that majority
of the respondents believe that trust is one of the important factors to consider
while buying products online.
Table 4. Frequency Distribution of Type of Commodity Chosen for Online
Purchase
Type of commodity chosen more while
Frequency Percentage
purchasing online
Clothes 112 56.0
Electronic Gadgets 99 49.5
Cosmetics 73 36.5
Tickets 124 62.0
Others 10 5.0
Table 4 shows that out of the 200 respondents, 62 percent of the respondents
purchase tickets online. Similarly, 56 percent, 49.5 percent, 36.5 percent and 5
percent of the respondents prefer purchasing clothes, electronic gadgets, cosmetics
and other commodities online respectively. This shows that the maximum number
of respondents prefer buying tickets more than other commodities online.
Table 5. Frequency Distribution of Factors Considered for Buying Online
Factors considered for buying online Yes/No Frequency Percentage
Trust Yes 131 65.5
Security Yes 98 49
Reasonable Price Yes 128 64
Time Saving Yes 152 76
Others Yes 8 4
Table 5 shows out of the 200 respondents, 76 percent of the respondents believe
that time saving is one of the main factors for buying online. Similarly, 65.5
percent, 64 percent, 49 percent and 4 percent of the respondents believe that trust,
reasonable price, security and other factors are the important factors to be
considered while purchasing online respectively. This shows that the maximum
number of respondents view time as an important factor to consider for online
purchase.
Table 6. Mean and Standard Deviation of Factors that Influence Purchase
Decision
Descriptive Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Statistics
Security 1 5 2.5850 .98750
Word of Mouth 1 5 2.2725 0.92263
Information 1 5 2.0400 .87016
Past Experience 1 4.5 2.2050 .87568
Brand Reputation 1 4.5 2.7150 .85729
Integrity 1 4.5 2.6000 .88255
Perceived Risk 1 4 2.5425 .81872
Price 1 4.5 2.3750 .97680
Perceived Value 1 4.5 2.5650 .87585
Time Saving 1 4.5 1.9675 .94188
Convenience 1 4.5 2.0675 .83377
Competency 1 4.5 2.3175 .88138
Privacy 1 4.5 2.4250 1.01217
Trust 1 4.5 2.5100 1.03088
Table 6 shows the factors influencing online purchase decision. The factors are
security, word of mouth, information, past experience, brand reputation, integrity,
perceived risk, price, perceived value, time saving, convenience, competency,
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privacy and trust. These factors are ranked from 1-5 respectively where 1
represents least influential factor and 5 represents most influential factor. From the
table, it is seen that the most priority is given to brand reputation whereas least
priority is given to information.
4.2 Reliability Testing
In order to determine the reliability of statements grouped to test the hypothesis,
correlation analysis is done between all the variables. All statements show
significant correlation between trust and other independent factors.
Table 7. Correlation of Factors Influencing Trust in Online Purchase
Behavior
Trust (X12) Correlation Coefficient P-value
Security (X1) 0.257 0.000
Word of Mouth (X2) 0.436 0.000
Information (X3) 0.522 0.000
Past Experience (X4) 0.662 0.000
Brand Reputation (X5) 0.420 0.000
Integrity (X6) 0.606 0.000
Perceived Risk (X7) 0.606 0.000
Price (X8) 0.550 0.000
Time Saving (X9) 0.590 0.000
Competency (X10) 0.520 0.000
Privacy (X11) 0.554 0.000
Perceived Value (X13) 0.506 0.000
Convenience (X14) 0.342 0.000
Table 7 shows the correlation matrix between trust and other factors in online
purchase behavior.
Correlation and Relationship of Trust with independent factors
The correlation between security and trust is 0.257, which means there is
positive correlation between security and trust as factors of online
purchase. The corresponding p-value is 0.000, which is less than level of
between security and trust, i.e., H01 is rejected.

The correlation between word of mouth and trust is 0.436, which means
there is positive correlation between word of mouth and trust as factors of
online purchase. The corresponding p-value is 0.000, which is less than
level of significance
relationship between word of mouth and trust, i.e., H02 is rejected.
The correlation between information and trust is 0.522, which means there
is positive correlation between information and trust as factors of online
between information and trust, i.e., H03 is rejected.

The correlation between past experience and trust is 0.662, which means
there is positive correlation between past experience and trust as factors of
gnificant
relationship between past experience and trust, i.e., H04 is rejected.
The correlation between brand reputation and trust is 0.420, which means
there is positive correlation between brand reputation and trust as factors of
relationship between brand reputation and trust, i.e., H05 is rejected.

The correlation between integrity and trust is 0.606, which means there is
positive correlation between integrity and trust as factors of online
between integrity and trust, i.e., H06 is rejected.

The correlation between perceived risk and trust is 0.606, which means
there is positive correlation between perceived risk and trust as factors of
lev
relationship between perceived risk and trust, i.e., H07 is rejected.
The correlation between price and trust is 0.550, which means there is
positive correlation between price and trust as factors of online purchase.
The corresponding p-value is 0.000, which is less than level of significance
and trust, i.e., H08 is rejected.

The correlation between perceived value and trust is 0.506, which means
there is positive correlation between perceived value and trust as factors of
cant
relationship between perceived value and trust, i.e., H09 is rejected.
The correlation between time saving and trust is 0.590, which means there
is positive correlation between time saving and trust as factors of online
between time saving and trust, i.e., H010 is rejected.

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The correlation between convenience and trust is 0.342, which means there
is positive correlation between convenience and trust as factors of online
between convenience and trust, i.e., H011 is rejected.

The correlation between competency and trust is 0.520, which means there
is positive correlation between competency and trust as factors of online
significance (
between competency and trust, i.e., H012 is rejected.
The correlation between privacy and trust is 0.554, which means there is
positive correlation between privacy and trust as factors of online
between privacy and trust, i.e., H013 is rejected.

4.3 Hypothesis Testing
In order to test the hypothesis, -square test and independent sample t-
test are done and the results are obtained. The significant value (0.05) is taken. If
the p-value is less than 0.05, it shows significant relationship between the variables
whereas if the p-value is more than 0.05, it shows that there is no significant
relationship between the variables.
Table 8. Mean Value of Factors by Gender and T-test Analysis
aMean Value of Factors by Gender
Factors Male Female T-value P-value Remarks
Security 2.7158 2.4667 1.791 0.075 Not Significant
Word of Mouth 2.3737 2.181 1.48 0.141 Not Significant
Information 2.1579 1.9333 1.833 0.068 Not Significant
Past Experience 2.2842 2.1333 1.218 0.225 Not Significant
Brand Reputation 2.7789 2.6571 1.003 0.317 Not Significant
Integrity 2.5947 2.6048 -0.08 0.936 Not Significant
Perceived Risk 2.4684 2.6095 -1.219 0.224 Not Significant
Price 2.4474 2.3095 0.997 0.32 Not Significant
Perceived Value 2.6895 2.4524 1.925 0.056 Not Significant
Time Saving 1.9579 1.9762 -0.137 0.891 Not Significant
Convenience 1.9947 2.1333 -1.175 0.241 Not Significant
Competency 2.4684 2.181 2.329 0.021 Significant
Privacy 2.5684 2.2952 1.919 0.056 Not Significant
Trust 2.5632 2.4619 0.693 0.489 Not Significant
Table 8 shows that there is no significant relationship between gender and security,
word of mouth, past experience, brand reputation, integrity, perceived risk, price,
time saving, perceived value, convenience, perceived risk, and trust. However,
there is significant relationship between gender and competency.
Table 9. Mean of Factors by Age Group and F-test Value
Mean Value of Factors by Age Group
Factors 16-19 20-29 30-39 Above 40 F-value P-value Remarks
Security 2.5833 2.6597 2.6273 2.1842 1.218 0.304 Not Significant
Word of Mouth 2.2037 2.3819 2.2455 2.1316 0.598 0.617 Not Significant
Information 1.9537 2.2361 1.8818 2 2.047 0.109 Not Significant
Past Experience 2.1204 2.2986 2.1727 2.1842 0.467 0.706 Not Significant
Brand Reputation 2.6204 2.75 2.7273 2.8158 0.347 0.791 Not Significant
Integrity 2.7315 2.5347 2.6455 2.3421 1.122 0.341 Not Significant
Perceived Risk 2.7315 2.5556 2.4364 2.2632 2.042 0.109 Not Significant
Price 2.4352 2.4306 2.2818 2.2632 0.392 0.759 Not Significant
Perceived Value 2.6852 2.6111 2.4909 2.2632 1.295 0.277 Not Significant
Time Saving 2.1111 1.9931 1.8 1.9474 1.019 0.385 Not Significant
Convenience 2.0278 2.1597 1.9909 2.0526 0.487 0.691 Not Significant
Competency 2.2593 2.2708 2.3545 2.5526 0.625 0.599 Not Significant
Privacy 2.2685 2.3681 2.7 2.2895 2.003 0.115 Not Significant
Trust 2.5648 2.4514 2.6455 2.1842 1.079 0.359 Not Significant
Table 9 shows that there is no significant relationship between age group and all
the independent factors.
Table 10. Mean of Factors by Education and F-test Value
Mean Value of Factors by Education
Factors Up to Undergraduate Graduate Post F- P-value Remarks
Intermediate or Graduate value
Plus Two
Word of 2.2109 2.2558 2.2891 2.3966 0.278 0.841 Not Significant
Mouth
Information 2 2.1047 2.1328 1.8276 0.942 0.421 Not Significant
Past 2.1875 2.3023 2.1016 2.3276 0.669 0.572 Not Significant
Experience
Brand 2.6205 2.7791 2.6484 2.9655 1.274 0.284 Not Significant
Reputation
Perceived 2.6563 2.6279 2.4609 2.3448 1.35 0.259 Not Significant
Risk
Price 2.4141 2.2907 2.4297 2.2931 0.273 0.845 Not Significant
Value
Convenience 2.0781 2.1047 2.1016 1.9138 0.392 0.759 Not Significant
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Table 10 shows that there is no significant relationship between education and all
the independent factors.
Table 11: Mean of Factors by Occupation and F-test Value
Mean Value of Factors by Occupation
Factors Student Business Jobholder Housewife F- P-value Remarks
person value
Word of 2.1688 2.3537 2.4846 1.6429 3.928 0.009 Not Significant
Mouth
Information 2.0125 2.0976 2.1538 1.5 2.299 0.079 Not Significant
Past 2.2063 2.0122 2.4462 1.6429 4.449 0.005 Significant
Experience
Brand 2.6313 2.7805 2.9154 2.0714 4.358 0.005 Significant
Reputation
Risk
Price 2.375 2.5 2.4538 1.6429 3.08 0.029 Significant
Value
Convenience 1.9813 2.1463 2.2308 1.5714 2.976 0.033 Significant
Table 11 shows that there is no significant relationship between occupation and

factors like security, word of mouth, information, integrity, perceived value,
perceived risk, time saving, competency, privacy and trust in online purchase.
However, there is a significant relationship between occupation and factors like
past experience, brand reputation, price and convenience.
5. Concluding Remarks
As the research shows that trust is regarded as an important factor for the
consumers to purchase online, there is a need for promoting trust and confidence in
the Internet. Trust is one of the most essential factors for a transaction to take place
online. However, the definition may differ according to their experiences, beliefs,
expectations and their thinking. Thus, it is important for the companies to
understand the customers and learn to manage consumers’ trust in e-commerce
business.
The main objective of this study is to test the influencing factors for consumers to
purchase online. After analyzing the outcomes of the study, the majority (97
percent) of respondents believe trust is an important factor for online purchase.
Even though it was found that 76 percent of the respondents believe that time-
saving is one of the important factors for buying online, the majority of
respondents prefer to shop online quarterly. This shows that they allocate very little
time for online purchase. From the analysis, it was found that 62 percent of the
respondents prefer buying tickets more than other commodities online. Even
though highest priority was given to brand reputation, the respondents did not feel
information is an important factor influencing their online purchase decision.
The analysis showed that the majority of female respondents purchase online
compared to the male respondents with a higher number of teenagers and
youngsters who are students and whose monthly income is less than the other
respondents.
As majority of the respondents are more concerned about brand image while
purchasing online, it shows the importance of marketing in e-commerce business to
attract customers. Through the study, it is also identified that word of mouth and
opinion given by the people affect and influence the purchasing behavior of
customers. When people buy online, they give suggestions and reviews to each
other. This shows that their perception about the products and services received
from online purchase plays an important role for retaining existing customers and
attracting potential customers. Reviews given by experts and market leaders also
give a serious impression and impact their perception towards the product, altering
their buying decisions. Relationship marketing strategy even plays an important
role in effective communication and interaction about the products/services with
customers.
The potential risk in e-commerce is because of the lack of physical interaction, i.e.
distance. This makes it difficult for consumers to trust online businesses. So, it is
important for e-commerce businesses to be extra careful in creating and
maintaining trust as compared to any physical store. The identified factors
mentioned above must be considered to manage trust among the customers for e-
commerce businesses. The safety and security of the customers must be
maintained, every customer must be dealt with in an impressive manner so that
they create a positive word of mouth. The information of the products and the
reviews must be shown with honesty and transparency. Each customer must feel
that they are treated uniquely and specially, and the delivery and service must be
consistent and superior to the other competitors to maintain trust among the
consumers. Through this survey, it is found that there is no significant relationship
between security and perceived risk; however, there is a significant relationship
among all the independent factors. This shows that all the factors must be taken
into consideration to build and maintain trust among the consumers.
Kharel:
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Journal of Business and Social Sciences Research (JBSSR), Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.

Factors Influencing Online Brand Trust: Evidence

purchasing behavior in the Kathmandu Valley and understand the relationship

3.1 The Basic Model

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

between security and trust, i.e., H01 is rejected.

between information and trust, i.e., H03 is rejected.

relationship between brand reputation and trust, i.e., H05 is rejected.

between integrity and trust, i.e., H06 is rejected.

and trust, i.e., H08 is rejected.

between time saving and trust, i.e., H010 is rejected.

between convenience and trust, i.e., H011 is rejected.

between privacy and trust, i.e., H013 is rejected.

Table 11 shows that there is no significant relationship between occupation and

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