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IJRDM
37,2
126
Received 10 April 2008
Revised 20 July 2008
Accepted 27 August 2008
International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management
Vol. 37 No. 2, 2009
pp. 126-141
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0959-0552
DOI 10.1108/09590550910934272
The effect of offline brand trust
and perceived internet confidence
on online shopping intention
in the integrated multi-channel
context
Kim Hongyoun Hahn
Apparel and Communication Technologies Department,
University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin, USA, and
Jihyun Kim
Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine the influences of consumer trust and perceived
internet confidence on consumer apparel shopping intention via the online retailer operated by a
multi-channel retailer.
Design/methodology/approach A total of 261 students in a large US Midwestern University
participated in the paper-based survey and provided usable responses. Structural equation modeling
was used to test hypotheses.
Findings Consumer trust in an online retailer was a significant predictor of perceived internet
confidence and search intention for product information via the online retailer. Search intention for
product information via the online store and perceived internet confidence were significant and strong
predictors of consumers behavioral intention toward the online retailer.
Research limitations/implications Limitations of the present study include sampling, which
prevents the generalization of the results to all multi-channel shoppers.
Practical implications The findings of the study suggest that retailers offer an internet channel as
part of a multi-channel retail strategy and provide consistent service throughout their various channels.
Originality/value The paper finds that there are significant influences of consumer trust and
perceived internet confidence on consumer apparel shopping intention via the online retailer operated
by a multi-channel retailer.
Keywords Brand image, Internet shopping, Consumer behaviour, Trust, United States of America,
Retailing
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Online business is steadily increasing every year, not entirely because of pure
web-based retailers, but also due to multi-channel retailers conducting business both
online and offline. According to comScore Networks, online retail sales in 2006 were
US$102.1 billion, which was a 24 percent increase from 2005 (Burns, 2007). e-Commerce
sales increase is remarkable over time and will continue by 2010 (Perez, 2006).
According to Jupiter Research, e-commerce retail sales are expected to have a 12 percent Perceived
annual increase and estimated sales of US$144 billion in 2010. Jupiter Research also internet
emphasized that the multi-channel strategy would be more prevalent for a retailers
success (Evans, 2006). confidence
A multi-channel strategy provides the retail company with a competitive edge by
operating two or more retail channels to distribute products to customers. The
multi-channel retailers generate greater revenue than single channel retail operator 127
because they attract more cross-shoppers (Levy and Weitz, 2004). For example,
consumers may view the products online and visit the brick-and-mortar store for the
purchases or vice versa. Retailers can embrace the broader range of customers
(Payne and Frow, 2004) and build more interactive customer relationships by offering
information, products, and customer support using a multi-channel strategy (Freed,
2005; Shop Org., 2001). Multi-channel retailing also provides customers with
convenience of shopping, which is most sought after by the customer. According to
Schramm-Klein and Morschett (2005), the goal of multi-channel retailing is to fulfill all
the needs and requirements of todays consumers that no single purchasing channel
can comply with. As a result, more and more customers are adopting multi-channel
retailing and are becoming multi-channel shoppers. According to the Direct Marketing
Associations 2005 Multi-channel Marketing Report, multi-channel shoppers spend
30 percent more per year in stores than single-channel shopper as cited in Fanelli et al.
(2006). Furthermore, in a survey conducted by the Aberdeen Group (2005), more than
50 percent of retailers reported multi-channel shoppers are more profitable than
single-channel customers. It has been proven in many studies that using various retail
channels, multi-channel shoppers search and purchase products more frequently as
well as spend more money than single channel customers (Dholakia et al., 2005;
Rangaswamy and van Bruggen, 2005; Shankar and Winer, 2005).
In the multi-channel retail environment, consumer trust is the one of the key
elements that enables customers to adopt a multi-channel retail strategy (Schlosser
et al., 2006; Winch and Joyce, 2006). Consumer trust has been acknowledged in
marketing literature as a crucial factor for successful business trades, and in turn, the
development and management for a long-term customer relationship. Trust has been
defined as a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence,
reliability, and integrity (Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Moorman et al., 1992). The belief in a
persons competence to perform a specific task under specific circumstances is also
pointed out as a facet of the trust concept. We believe that people, who trust a
traditional brick-and-mortar retailer, will have a similar level of confidence in shopping
for products at the online retailer, operated by the traditional store that she or he has
the trusts. Especially, when consumers are uncertain about online shopping, they will
likely rely on the trusted retailers web site (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001).
Purchasing products online often involves various level of risk/uncertainty, especially
when consumers need to provide an online retailer with their personal information
such as credit card numbers. In this vulnerable situation, consumers trust of a
company may reduce any uncertainty that consumers have about online shopping.
Several studies investigated the issues of trust in the online environment (Gefen et al.,
2003; Stewart, 2003; Winch and Joyce, 2006). There is little research investigating the
potential influence of pre-existing consumer trust in an offline brick-and-mortar
retailer on consumers perceptions of internet shopping at the offline retailers web site
IJRDM (Lee et al., 2007; Kuan and Bock, 2007). Lee et al. (2007) examined the influence of trust
37,2 in an offline banking system on consumers online banking perceptions. Kuan and
Bock (2007) investigated the factors affecting the formation of online trust for
consumers of a brick and mortar supermarket retailer. These studies focused on the
offline/online baking industry and supermarket retailing context; however, they did
not address the sensory and interactive nature of different types of shopping behavior
128 such as apparel shopping; where consumers are likely to physically examine the
characteristics of the products (color, size, design, fabric and fit) (Ha and Stoel, 2004).
Because of the nature of hands-on aspect of apparel shopping, apparel online
shopping has been associated with a higher perceived risk (Bhatnagar et al., 2000;
Hawes and Lumpkin, 1986) and this risk has been often linked to trust in online
shopping behavior (Newholm et al., 2004). Therefore, it will be important to examine if
there is a positive relationship between consumer trust in an offline retailer and
perceived confidence while shopping at the retailers online store within a
multi-channel retailing context for apparel products.
Converting online visitors into buyers is one of the biggest problems that many
online businesses face in daily basis. Another significant issue with the online
shopping is that online apparel shopping still lacks critical tactile aspects of an offline
shopping experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of consumer
trust and perceived confidence of internet shopping on their behavioral intentions
towards the online store. Through examining these relationships, this study provided
some ideas to solve several issues involved in both online and offline business for
multi-channel retailers.

Literature review and theoretical framework

Consumer trust and perceived confidence of internet shopping
According to Winch and Joyce (2006), trust is a strong influential factor for making a
purchase in both offline and online environments; however, in the online environment,
trust is built primarily in a person-to-web site manner rather than person-to-person
communication, mediated through technology. Therefore, without having trust built, it
is likely that business transactions would not be possible in an online environment, just
as it would not be possible in the offline environment (Winch and Joyce, 2006; Bart et al.,
2005). In the online business environment, consumers view the technology as a tool
that mediates the underlying process of obtaining a product, service, and/or
information from an online business (Shim et al., 2001). During online shopping, trust
can be a vital factor for consumers to make purchase decision since consumers often
perceive risks involved in online transactions such as financial risk, product risk and
concern for privacy and security (Winch and Joyce, 2006; Bart et al., 2005; Li and
Zhang, 2002).
When online shopping was first introduced to consumers, first time online shoppers
were not comfortable using the internet for purchasing goods because they were not
sure of their ability to shop for products over the internet (Bobbit and Dabholkar, 2001;
Eastin and LaRose, 2000). Researchers found the importance of perceived behavioral
control (Ajzen, 1991) to be an important determinant to predict intentions and
behaviors of online consumers (Bobbit and Dabholkar, 2001; Cunningham et al., 2005).
Bobbit and Dabholkar (2001) applied the perceived behavioral control in an internet
shopping context and referred to it as having levels of ease or difficulty within the
online shopping process. Bobbit and Dabholkar (2001) also claimed that perceived Perceived
behavioral control is closely related to the consumers confidence in his/her ability to internet
shop via the internet.
Consumers who have built trust in a brick-and-mortar retailer would be willing to confidence
accept its new retail channel format, internet shopping site, for their shopping needs. In
turn, based on the previous shopping experience with the brick-and-mortar retailer,
consumers may be more confident in shopping via the brick-and-mortar retailers 129
internet site. According to Li and Zhang (2002), consumers trust in a retailer can
reduce perceived risk associated with context of online transactions. Therefore,
Consumers perhaps are more confident shopping at the brick-and-click retailers
internet shopping sites because those online sites carry over the brand image that
the retailers have previously established. In the same logic, consumers who do not have
trust built with an offline retailer would be less confident in shopping at the internet
retailer due to the lack of shopping experience with the brick-and-mortar retailer. Park
and Stoel (2005) found a very strong positive effect of brand familiarity on the
consumers intentions to shop at retailer web sites. We believe that if consumers have
trust in a brick-and-mortar retailer, they will likely to be confident shopping at the
retailers web site. Therefore, we propose:
H1. There is a positive relationship between consumers trust in an offline store
and their perceived internet confidence at the retailers online store.

Consumer trust and information search intention

Consumer trust of a brick-and-mortar retailer may influence his/her information search
behavior using the retailers online store. Researchers found that consumer chose
information sources they trusted when they searching for valid, accurate, and timely
information (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; Pavlou and Eugenson, 2006). Similarly,
Schlosser et al. (2006) found that consumers are likely to search information at the web
site offered by the company that they already trust because they expect the company
they trust and are familiar with will provide optimal information for them. For the
internet shopping case, these findings are applicable as well. For apparel product
information, individuals look for the retailers they trust or are at least somewhat
familiar with, instead of unknown retailers. Since apparel is a significant part of the
individuals appearance presentation (Kaiser, 1990), he/she would search a trusted
retailers websites for apparel information. Consequently, we expect that when
consumers trust a brick-and-mortar retailer, they will have higher information search
intention using the retailers web site. Therefore, we hypothesize:
H2. There is a positive relationship between consumers trust in an offline retailer
and their information search intention using the retailers online store.

Consumer trust and behavioral intentions

The relationships between trust and behavioral intentions have been examined
frequently in previous online shopping research. Lui et al. (2005) examined an
individuals perceptions of privacy and how it related to his or her behavioral intention
to make an online transaction. Lui et al. (2005) found that trust was an important factor
to predict consumers intention for online shopping. Kuan and Bock (2007) also
confirmed the positive relationship between online trust and online purchase intention
IJRDM in a grocery shopping context. In the multi-channel banking context, Lee et al. (2007)
37,2 found that consumer trust in an offline bank was a significant predictor of the
perceived future use of the online banking system of the offline bank. Furthermore,
consumers perceptions of brand trust and repurchase intentions have been examined
by Zboja and Voorhees (2006). Zboja and Voorhees (2006) found that brand trust was
clearly linked to customers satisfaction levels and repeat purchase intentions.
130 Therefore, based on previous studies, we propose that when consumers have an
existing trust in an offline store, they are willing to purchase the products online,
willing to spend more time at the trusted retailers web site and willing to recommend
that same online store to others. Hence, we hypothesize that:
H3. There is a positive relationship between consumer trust in an offline store and
behavioral intention toward the online store.

Perceived internet confidence and information search intention

Koufaris and Hampton-Sosa (2002) studied how the web site experience can influence
customer trust in the company itself through customer beliefs about the web site. They
discovered that if customers found a companys web site easy to use and useful then
consequently customers viewed the company more favorably and perceive
organization as being more trustworthy. When consumers perceive a site as useful
and easy to use, they are more likely to search information from that particular web
site. For example, younger, rural consumers with prior internet experience had higher
information search intention via the internet, compared to ones with no internet
experience (Worthy et al., 2004). As discussed earlier, if consumers have more
confidence in using a web site for valid, credible, and accurate information, they will
have more intention to search for information from that particular web site as well.
Thus, we propose:
H4. There is a positive relationship between consumers perceived internet
confidence of internet shopping at the online retailer and their information
search intention using the retailers online store.

Perceived internet confidence and behavioral intentions

The importance of building trust or confidence in online shopping has been much
emphasized in literature (Constantinides, 2004; Koufaris and Hampton-Sosa, 2002).
According to Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2000), online shopping gives consumers a great
deal of freedom and control because it is convenient, accessible and allows products
and pricing comparisons. Koufaris and Hampton-Sosa (2002) proved that there was a
positive relationship between perceived control, perceived usefulness, and perceived
ease of use of a web site. If consumers find a companys web site easy to use, useful,
and safe to use, they may be more likely to make more purchases from that web site.
Therefore, if consumers experience smooth transactions online overtime and feel
confident about online transactions and shopping at online retailers, they are more
likely to have higher purchase intention for the online retailer web site. Similar to this
logic, consumers who have more confidence in shopping online may stay longer at the
web site for shopping, compared to those who have lower confidence in internet
shopping.
 Also, consumers with more confidence in internet shopping at an online store may Perceived
have more experience with the online store. Based on their confidence and previous internet
experience with the online retailer, they may be more willing to recommend the online
store to others, compared to those with less confidence in internet shopping at the confidence
online store. Therefore, we propose:
H5. There is a positive relationship between consumers perceived confidence of
internet shopping at the online retailer and their behavioral intention toward 131
the online store.

Information search intention and behavioral intentions

Intention to purchase. The relationship between intention to use the internet for
information search and intention to use the internet for purchasing was found in the
online pre-purchase intentions model developed by Shim et al. (2001). Individuals who
had greater intention to use the internet for information search were likely to have
greater intention to use the internet for purchasing. Kleins (1998) economics of
information search model addressed that consumers would choose the least costly way
for searching and purchasing goods and services. Searching and purchasing within
one channel (e.g. the internet) may be perceived as less costly than searching and
purchasing in multiple channels. Thus, consumers may choose a single channel to
reduce shopping cost rather than use multiple channels for gathering information and
purchasing products. Empirical research studies also supported that consumers were
likely to search more information from the internet when purchasing products
online (Kim and Park, 2005; Lohse et al., 2000; Ratchford et al., 2003; Rowley, 2000).
The positive relationship between internet information search intention and internet
purchase intention was also found for apparel products in previous studies (Shim et al.,
2001; Watchravesringkan and Shim, 2003).
Intention to spend more time at the online store. Research studies showed that
consumers who use the internet for product information search were also likely to
spend more time on the internet (Lohse et al., 2000; Kim and Park, 2005). Online
shoppers expressed that they could fully examine various options for product
purchases through online shopping, compared to the offline shopping context
(Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2000). Consumers not only compare prices but also compare
product attributes offered within an online retailer or by different online retailers.
Therefore, they may spend more time at the online retailer to explore alternatives or to
examine the detailed product information to fulfill their utilitarian needs (i.e. making
right decisions) and/or intrinsic motivations (i.e. enjoy searching for more product info
for itself).
Intention to recommend the online store to others. Positive word-of-mouth (WOM)
for online retailers has been one of the most effective formats of advertising (Enos,
2001). It has been demonstrated that WOM has a significant effect on online behavioral
intentions. Kuan and Bock (2007) found that WOM of the retailers online operations
had the dominant effect on online trust and the effect was found to be much stronger
than offline trust. Holloway et al. (2005) also revealed that consumers with a low level
of online purchasing experience were more likely to engage in higher levels of negative
word of mouth, if they felt dissatisfied after a service failure incident. Although there is
little empirical research about a direct positive relationship between using the internet
or an online retailer for information search and willingness to recommend to others,
IJRDM it is reasonable to expect that consumers who have greater search intention for product
37,2 information via the online store are likely to have greater intention to recommend the
online store to others, compared to ones who have lower search intention for product
information via the online store. Subsequently, the more experience on information
search consumers obtain, the more willing they would be, to recommend the online
retailers to others. Therefore, we propose (Figure 1):
132 H6. There is a positive relationship between consumers information search
intention at the online retailer and their behavioral intention toward the online
store.

Method
Subjects
A total of 262 undergraduate students in a large US Midwestern University
volunteered to participate in this study. College students were selected for two reasons.
From the practitioners perspective, these young adults are potential valuable
customers for multi-channel retailers because they are likely to present strong
purchase power on both online and offline stores (Hogg et al., 1998; Silverman, 2000). In
addition, from the theoretical perspective, college students are generally accepted for
model testing. Our major interest in this study is to build and test the sequential and
multivariate relationships among variables (Calder et al., 1981).

Procedure
We employed a self-administered survey technique to acquire consumers responses to
the questionnaire. Respondents were first asked to recall their favorite traditional
retailer that also operates an online store. They were then asked to identify and write
the retailers name in the blank on the first page of the questionnaire. Next, respondents
were asked to answer questions based upon their prior experiences with the chosen
retailer.

Perceived
confidence of
shopping at the
online store
H1
H5

H4
Behavioral
Consumer trust
H3 intention
in an offline
toward the
store
Figure 1. online store
Proposed conceptual
model explaining the H2 H6
mediating role of Information
perceived internet search intention
confidence in online at the online
shopping store
Instruments Perceived
Three items were developed by the researchers to measure consumer trust in an offline internet
store and had Cronbachs a of 0.93. To measure perceived confidence of shopping at
the online store, we adopted five items of the perceived confidence scale, developed by confidence
Eastin and LaRose (2000). The items had Cronbachs a of 0.91. Information search
intention via the online store was measured using three items, developed by Kim and
Park (2005). The items had a Cronbach a of 0.90. To measure behavioral intention 133
toward the online store, we adopted two items of willingness to purchase via the online
store developed by Kim and Park (2005), one item of willingness to spend more time at
the online retailer from Kim et al. (2007), and one item of willingness to recommend the
online retailer to others from Zeithaml et al. (1996). The items had Cronbach a of 0.89.
All except consumer trust in an offline store were revised to reflect the internet
shopping context. According to Nunnally and Bernstein (1994), all multi-item scales
used in the present study achieved acceptable construct reliabilities (Cronbachs
a . 0.7). A five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree) was used to measure the constructs. Multi-item scales for the model constructs
are exhibited in the Table II with convergent validity test results and factor loadings.
The model constructs had average variance extracted (AVE) values that ranged from
0.64 to 0.81, which are above the cut-off value of 0.50 (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).
Therefore, all constructs achieved adequate convergent validity (Tables I and II).
Respondents were asked to provide some demographic information including age,
ethnic background, and sex. Respondents were also asked to select one favorite retailer
who operates both offline and online channels and then, answer the questions related to
their past shopping experience, such as the number of shopping trips for apparel
purchase via the self-selected traditional retailer, the number of apparel purchases
made in the past 12 months, and the amount of money spent in the self-selected
traditional retailer for apparel purchase. The same questions were repeated for the
online version of the retailer.

Results
Preliminary analyses
The mean age of respondents (n 261) was about 21 years. Approximately, 97 percent
were between the ages of 18 and 25 years. About 80 percent were female. Thus, our
sample is limited to female college students. This demographic group is, however,
meaningful to investigate for apparel multi-channel retailers due to the strong

Correlations
Model constructs Mean SD 1 2 3 4

Consumer trust in an offline store 3.93 0.80

Perceived Internet confidence shopping at the online
store 3.89 0.95 0.29 * *
Search intention of product information via the Table I.
online retailer 3.78 1.04 0.30 * * 0.59 * * Descriptive statistics
Behavioral intention toward the online store 3.68 1.07 0.26 * * 0.72 * * 0.66 * * and correlation matrix
of model constructs
Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01 (n 261)
IJRDM
Standardized Average
37,2 factor variance
Constructs/indicators loading (l) t-value extracted a

j1 (consumer trust in an offline store) 0.81

x1 Offline store that I chose above would do the job
134 right 0.83
x2 I trust the offline store that I chose above 0.96 19.83
x3 I believe that offline store that I chose above is
trustworthy 0.91 19.02
h1 (perceived confidence of shopping at the online
store) 0.64
I feel confident. . .
y1 searching for apparel product information via this
online store 0.83
y2 browsing apparel products via this online store 0.76 16.69
y3 making a purchase of apparel products via this
online store 0.92 17.96
y4 making a payment transaction via this online store 0.80 14.82
y5 reporting my complaints about the purchase made
from this online store 0.70 12.31
h2 (information search intention at the online store) 0.76
y6 I will visit this online store to search for apparel
product information (e.g., new trend, product
description) within six months 0.79
y7 I would be willing to search for apparel product
information (e.g., new trend, product description) via
this online store 0.90 16.41
y8 How likely is that you will search for apparel
product information (e.g., new trend, product
description) via this online store? 0.92 16.82
h3 (behavioral intentions toward the online store) 0.65
y9 I would be wiling to buy apparel through this
online store 0.88
y10 How likely is that you will buy apparel from this
online store when you find something you like? 0.82 16.95
y11 I would spend more time shopping on this online
store than I planned 0.75 14.58
Table II. y12 I would be willing to recommend this online store
Measurement model to my friends 0.76 14.60
results for model
a
constructs (n 261) Note: AVE was calculated as suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981)

consumer demand and buying power. According to the Youth/Harris Interactive

College Explorer study, college students spent about US$200 billion per year and an
average of US$287 a month on discretionary items other than tuition, books/school
fees, etc. (Harris Interactive 2002). Female students tended to show higher fashion
interest and spend more money on clothing than male students (Han et al., 1991). In
addition, about 93 percent of college students accessed the internet (Harris
Interactive 2002).
The majority of respondents were Caucasian American (85.9 percent), followed by
Asian heritage (8.8 percent) and African American (3.1 percent). More than 85 percent
of respondents had purchased a product over the internet and more than 71 percent Perceived
reported their previous purchase experience of apparel on the internet. About internet
41 percent of respondents reported that they visited the self-selected offline store to
search for clothing information in every few month, 24 percent reported every confidence
month, and another 21 percent reported once or twice in the past 12 months. About
42 percent of respondents reported that they purchased clothing from the self-selected
offline store for 2-5 times, 21 percent reported 6-10 times, and another 21 percent 135
reported more than 10 times in the past 12 months. The averaged amount of money
that they spent on purchasing during the past 12 months was about $200.
Less than half (46.1 percent) reported that they had searched clothing information
from the self-selected online store for every few month (28.2 percent) or every month
(17.9 percent) in the past 12 months. About a quarter (26.3 percent) reported that they
purchased clothing from the self-selected online store for two to five times and 18.7
percent reported they purchased once. About 44 percent reported that they had not
made any purchase for apparel via the online store. About 36 percent spent less than
$200 on clothing purchase and 13.7 percent spent from $201 to 500 on clothing
purchase. This is consistent with the previous findings about college students internet
purchase behavior (Shop Org., 2003).

Structural equation modeling analysis: hypotheses testing

Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the research hypotheses. AMOS
7.0 was utilized to run the analysis using a maximum-likelihood estimation. The
overall fit indices for the proposed model revealed a x 2 of 153.43 (df 81; p 0.001),
goodness-of-fit index (GFI) of 0.93, adjust GFI (AGFI) of 0.90, relative fit index (RFI) of
0.94, and RMR of 0.04. Fit statistics above 0.90 for GFI, AGFI, and RFI and below 0.05
for RMR were used as an indicator of a good model fit to the data (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988;
Hair et al., 1998). Following Bagozzi and Yi (1988), the x 2 statistic was not considered a
good indicator for model fit because sample size is over 200 in this study. Therefore,
the indices indicated that the proposed model fit the data well.
Figure 2 shows the final model with structural path coefficients and t-values for
each relationship as well as squared multiple correlations (R 2) for each endogenous
construct. The results indicated that there were direct effects of:
.
consumer trust in an offline retailer on perceived confidence of internet shopping
(H1: g11 0.28, t 4.25, p , 0.001); and
.
consumer trust in an offline retailer on information search intention via the
online retailer (H2: g21 0.17, t 3.04, p , 0.01).

The H3 proposing the direct effect of consumer trust in an offline retailer on their
behavioral intention toward the online retailer was not statistically supported (H3:
g31 0.01, t 0.21, p , 0.83). H4 and H5 predicting the positive direct effects of
perceived confidence of shopping at the online store on information search intention at
the online store (H4: b 21 0.58, t 8.65, p , 0.001) and behavioral intention toward
the online store (H5: b 31 0.59, t 9.19, p , 0.001) received statistical support.
Finally, the results showed the statistical support for the proposed positive direct effect
of information search intention via the online retailer on behavioral intention toward
the online store (H6: b32 0.37, t 6.00, p , 0.0001). Therefore, all hypotheses,
except H3, were supported.
IJRDM R2 = 0.08*
37,2 Perceived
confidence of
shopping at the
online store 0.59***
0.28***
(9.19)
136 (4.25) R2 = 0.76*
0.58***
(8.65) Behavioral
Consumer trust 0.01 intention
in an offline (0.21) toward the
store
online store
R2 = 0.43*
0.17** 0.37***
(3.04) Information n = 261
(6.00)
search intention X2(81) = 153.43
at the online GFI = 0.93
Figure 2. store AGFI = 0.90
A final model presenting RFI = 0.94
structural path RMR = 0.04
coefficients, t-values, and p = 0.001
R 2 for proposed
hypotheses Notes: Standardized path estimates are reported with t-values in parentheses. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; ***
p < 0.001

Discussion and implications

The result of this study proved that consumer trust in an offline store was a significant
predictor of perceived internet confidence and search intention for product information
online offered by the offline retailer. At times consumers may feel uncertain about
purchasing products online, if they need to give out their personal information such as
credit card numbers. In this vulnerable situation, consumers trust of a company can
play an important role in reducing any uncertainty that consumers have about online
shopping (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). As we predicted, consumers trust in an
offline store had a positive relationship with their perceived internet confidence. This
information confirmed that consumers feel more confident with online shopping when
they shop through the company they trust.
As expected, consumers are likely to search information online using the trusted
companys web site. Consumers expect the company they trust to provide optimum
information and eventually reduce their uncertainty of the online transactions as well (Lee
and Johnson, 2002). Therefore, it is suggested that well-known brand name offline stores
should maintain an up-to-date web site that is consistent with offline stores for consumers,
in order to maintain consumers trust of their online store. However, the direct effect of
consumer trust in an offline retailer on their behavioral intention toward the online retailer
was not supported in this study. This may suggest that consumer trust does not have a
direct impact on the consumers behavioral intention but indirectly influences through
perceived internet confidence and search intentions for product information online.
This research demonstrates that increasing perceived confidence of shopping and
increasing search intention at the online retailer result in an increasing behavioral
intention toward the online retailer. A common problem in many online businesses is
converting online browsers into online purchasers. By demonstrating the close
relationship between consumers confidence in online shopping and behavioral
intention, this study gives an idea how to solve that problem. As our model shows, if Perceived
consumers trust an offline retailer, not only do they feel confident using their web site internet
for searching information, but they also feel confident purchasing products from that
retailers online store. Therefore, maintaining consumers trust both offline and online confidence
will be a key for retailers to turn online browsers into online purchasers.
In order to retain consumers trust, retailers need to maintain smooth transactions
from offline to online, and online to offline using a multi-channel retailing strategy. 137
Consumers often search information online, and then may buy products online or in a
physical store. Sometimes, consumers expect to return products in physical stores that
were purchased online. At times consumers find products in physical stores, which
they touch and physically handle, and then go home to buy products online. Therefore,
it is vital for retailers to implement multi-channel retailing strategies seamlessly in
order to offer customers the ability to purchase and return merchandise using any
channel with a minimum amount of hassle, which will eventually cause consumers to
retain their trust in the firms business and retail channels.
One facet of our conceptualization of behavioral intention toward the online store
was willingness to recommend the online store to others. This study shows that the
more consumers feel confident with shopping at the online store, the higher behavioral
intention will be toward the online store, indicating that consumers are more willing to
recommend the online store to others. Online WOM is becoming an important
marketing tool for retailers these days. According to Emergence Marketing (2007),
online WOM is much more powerful than offline WOM because it affects many people
over a short period of time. Consumers review of a retail firms products play an
important role for other consumers purchase decisions. Therefore, it is suggested for
retailers to adopt advanced technologies such as dynamic product image
representation (i.e. Scene7e zoom function, My Virtual Modele) and provide smart
search engines for consumers to search for the product information conveniently. In
that case, consumers will feel more confident searching information and purchasing
products from the online store they trust and their trust in the retail firm will increase.
A strong positive relationship between information search intention online and
behavioral intention toward the online store found in this study and supports previous
research. This indicates that consumers are integrating online shopping into their daily
lives as they feel confident with online shopping. To increase online sales and
consumer trust level, it would be vital for retailers to provide these online shoppers
with what they seek at the online store in a timely fashion, because most online
shoppers are goal-oriented (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2000). To fulfill theses online
consumers needs, retailers need to provide accurate, detailed representation of product
information and timely responsive customer service.
In conclusion, our findings showed significant relationships between consumer
trust in an offline retailer, perceived confidence of shopping at the online store,
information search intention at the online store, and behavioral intentions toward the
online retailer operated by the offline retailer in the multi-channel retailing context. In
order to encourage offline purchasers to adopt the online channel for product
information search and purchases, the multi-channel retailers should provide
consistent customer service and product information throughout different channels.
This study is not without limitations. First, this study employed a convenient
sampling of college students to test the proposed conceptual model. Therefore, the
IJRDM findings may not be generalized to other populations. Future research may adopt a
37,2 more representative sampling technique to replicate this study. Secondly, this study
focused on apparel as a product category. It may be interesting to see how consumers
perceive and behave in other product categories. Therefore, we suggest future studies
to adopt different product categories to test the proposed conceptual model.

138
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Corresponding author
Jihyun Kim can be contacted at: jhkim@vt.edu

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