Trust and Loyalty in Electronic Commerce: An Agency Theory Perspective - Hardcover

by Zeinab Karake-Shalhoub (Author)

Karake-Shalhoub uses agency theory to ground her empirical analysis of more than 100 e-commerce firms in this highly readable examination of trust in e-commerce relational exchanges. She identifies several trust-building measures, including privacy statements, the existence of a chief privacy officer, and a trusted third-party seal of approval; companies are then evaluated based on an index of those trust builders. She demonstrates that there is a positive relationship between management ownership and trust, and that managers who fail to protect the interests of their stockholders-as well as their own-will never gain customer loyalty. Any business considering a move into e-commerce, or re-evaluating an earlier investment in online marketing and retailing, will benefit greatly from Karake-Shalhoub's insights.

Author Biography

ZEINAB KARAKE-SHALHOUB is Associate Dean of the School of Business and Management at American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. She is also Professor of Management Systems. Before joining AUS, she was a professor at Catholic University of America (1989-1998) and at George Washington University (1996-1989), both in Washington, D.C. She is the North American editor of Management Decision Journal and Logistics Information Management Journal. She is the author of Downsizing, Discrimination, and Corporate Social Responsibility (Quorum Books, 1999), Information Technology and Management Control: An Agency Theory Perspective (Praeger Publishers, 1992), and Technology and Developing Economies: The Impact of Eastern European Versus Western Technology Transfer (Praeger Publishers, 1990).