The Impact of Trust in the Relationship between M-Commerce Website Quality and Online Purchase Intention: A Study among Malaysian Consumers

Malaysia is ranked number six in Asia with the most percentage of population that conducts m-commerce. However, there is low intention among consumers in Malaysia to use m-commerce when compared to developed countries such as Japan and South Korea. Previous research in website quality effects on online purchase intention in desktop-sized implies that trust may affect how customer perceive online purchase decision through website. Therefore, investigation of trust issues on m commerce website quality is important. Following the Theory of Acceptance Model, this study hypothesizes that consumers' trust mediates the relationship between m-commerce website quality and purchase intention. The survey method was used for the purpose of data collection in January 2017 and a quantitative approach was used. Results from a survey on 187 respondents who live in the metropolis of Malaysia confirmed that consumers' trust mediate the relationship between three out of five dimensions of website quality (system quality, service quality and perceived usefulness) and purchase intention. High level of trust on website quality was observed to increase the level of consumers' purchase intention through m-commerce website. This study implies the significance of trust on consumer evaluation for m-commerce website quality. This finding could help online retailers to improve their website quality in order to gain consumers' trust that can influence online purchase intention through mobile devices. In addition, it can be postulated that trust increase positive effects of website quality.