Consumer Trust in the Online Travel Marketplace

Trust has been identified as a key challenge for the rapid growth and development of online transactions. However, only a limited number of research studies have examined the key indicators of trust and their relative significance in an online, travel industry environment. These studies have typically taken place in the more advanced western economies. This study contributes to redressing this research gap, using a sample of 135 Singaporean consumers. Analysis suggests six dimensions, including order facilitation effort, website presentation and navigation, customer information exchange, customer control and collaboration, transactional security and prior knowledge of vendor, as being of critical importance in enhancing consumer trust within the online travel marketplace. The managerial and future research implications of these findings are discussed in the paper. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.