February 01, 1999 New Thinking:
Being yourself

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• The email publications and website show that Nua has a history; that we have been around for quite a while
• The free information we have supplied over the years has reflected an organization with a long-term view of creating value and one that is not out to rip people off
• Nua has managed to build a respected brand
• You have had a broadly positive experience of Nua

“Trust deepens or retreats based on experience,” the eCommerce Trust Study, published by Studio Archetype and Cheskin Research in January 1999, states.

It is so important to build trust online for the very reason that trust on the Internet is extremely hard to build. It’s all very well talking about cheap prices and convenience, but when we’re at that point where we’re typing in our credit card number, all those scary questions begin to raise themselves like Dracula corpses in a midnight graveyard. Who’s behind this website? Will the product be even delivered? Will I be billed for the right amount? What’s their security policy? Can I return it?

That’s why brands are so important on the Internet and that’s why AOL and Amazon and Yahoo are doing so well. They are like fortresses in an insecure, bandit world. People trust them, and a significant element of their strength is that people trust so very little else on the Internet.

The eCommerce Trust Study isolated six marketplace fundamentals for building and maintaining trust on the Internet, with the brand being at the top of the list:

• Brand – the importance of the company's reputation in the choice to do business with it
• Navigation – the ease of finding what the user seeks
• Fulfillment – the process users experience from when they begin a purchase until they receive a shipment and are satisfied with the purchase
• Presentation – how the site communicates meaningful information
• Technology - ways in which the site functions technically
• Seals of Approval – symbols that represent companies that assure the safety of Web sites.

In relation to trust and ecommerce, another interesting point I heard recently is that the vast majority of people who have purchased on the Internet have been ‘dipping their toes in the water.’

That’s why such things as books and CDs have been so popular. They’ve got a small price tag, you know exactly what you’re getting, and there’s very little can go wrong with a book or CD.

As the Internet marketplace seeks to supply higher price items to consumers, the trustworthiness of the brand and website will become even more important.


Gerry McGovern


 

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