Trust and Familiarity in E-commerce: an empirical research in automobile industry.

Abstract

E-commerce is becoming more and more widespread in the current economic scenario. Nevertheless, this new form of commerce lacks any type of face-to-face relationship and does not correspond with human nature, which on the contrary, is characterized by a constant need for deep comprehension and control of the surrounding environment. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the process of establishment and development of the relationship between consumers and e-commerce, focusing on the influence that variables such as trust and familiarity have towards it. The research will be circumscribed to the automobile sector, specifically in the case study of Campello Motors: a casual sample of the company’s customers were asked to complete a questionnaire that was seeking to assess the level of influence that trust and familiarity have towards consumers’ willingness to buy automobiles online. The essay concludes that, in fact, both cognitive and emotional features must be taken into consideration in the structural creation of the e-commerce as well as in the introduction and distribution of it throughout the social community: to gain success among people, it must be built up on a human scale.