Risk assessment in e-commerce: How sellers' photos, reputation scores, and the stake of a transaction influence buyers' purchase behavior and information processing

Guided by Nickel's (2009) model of risk assessment and the literature on facial trustworthiness, this study investigates how the stake of a transaction interacts with information on buyers' profiles in influencing buyers' purchase decisions and information processing. Participants played buyers in a trust game and made purchase decisions based on a series of seller profiles while their eye movements on the stimuli were recorded. Results revealed that the three factors examined exerted influences on buyers' decision-making in a hierarchical fashion: Sellers' reputation exerted a primary influence on buyers' decision-making, followed by sellers' profile photos, which is further followed by the stake of a transaction. The results confirm Nickel's (2009) model of risk assessment and inform e-marketing strategies in terms of building consumers' trust.