احساس نزدیکی از دور: نقش فاصله روان شناختی در جبران بی اعتمادی در خرده فروشان آنلاین ناشناس Feeling Close From Afar: The Role of Psychological Distance in Offsetting Distrust in Unfamiliar Online Retailers

Electronic and mobile commerce seem to offer substantial customer base expansion opportunities both for retailers that lack a physical store (i.e., pure etailers) and also for those that have remote or limited bricks-and-mortar locations (i.e., physically distant hybrid retailers; Pauwels and Neslin 2015). However, the lack of consumer trust often associated with online retailrepresents a significant barrierto such customer acquisition (Benedicktus et al. 2010; Schlosser, White, and Lloyd 2006). Consumer distrust of online vendors is particularly problematic for first-time purchases, because consumers have no direct experience with which to assess the retailer’s trustworthiness (Melis et al. 2015; Schlosser, White, and Lloyd 2006; Singh and Sirdeshmukh 2000; Yoon 2002). The challenge faced by online retailers in establishing trust online is highlighted by  survey research that found 60% of US Internet users are extremely or very concerned about scams and fraud related to online shopping, which represents a six percent increase in that figure from two years prior (Microsoft 2014). Although large, established retailers can at least partially overcome online distrust through brand building or by establishing amore intensively distributed network of physical store locations (Benedicktus et al. 2010), these strategies are generally costly and therefore may not be viable for many smaller, less familiar retailers. Past research suggests that online trust can be improved by factors such as brand familiarity, lower risk perceptions, and favorable inferences about retailer quality (e.g., Benedicktus et al. 2010; Dholakia, Zhao, and Dholakia 2005; Herhausen et al. 2015). Notwithstanding the importance of such factors, the current research adds to our understanding by adopting Construal Level Theory (CLT; Trope and Liberman 2010) as a conceptual framework for understanding the role that a novel factor (psychological distance) can play in determining consumer trust and purchase intentions online. In particular, we show that the lack of consumer trust associated with unfamiliar retailers that are purely virtual (intangible) or have a physically distant retail location stems partly from underlying perceptions of the psychological distance involved. We then draw on CLT’s interchangeability principle to develop simple, cost effective website strategies that reduce psychological distance, and thereby enhance trust and purchase intentions. The predicted effects of psychological distance are found while accounting for some of the previously established factors that are likely signaled by the presence of a physical store, including perceptions of risk, firm size, and quality. Our findings have theoretical implications for the CLT literature, as well as strategic implications for online retailers. Theoretically, our research expands the scope of CLT by linking different facets of psychological distance to consumer trust for the first time, using tests of both mediation and moderation. Further, we provide novel empirical evidence for a compensatory effect concerning the joint influence of different facets of psychological distance on consumer judgment (i.e., social distance and tangibility). Managerially, our research offers a framework forsimplewebsite strategiesthat lessfamiliar etailers and physically distant hybrids can draw on to reduce psychological distance associated with first-time purchases, and thereby improve trust and encourage purchase. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. First, we define the concept of psychological distance as distinct from, but related to, physical distance. Next, we adopt the CLT multifaceted view of psychological distance and derive its implications for consumer trust and purchase intentions in a multichannel marketing context. We then use this framework to formulate our hypotheses, which are tested in a series of experiments. Studies 1 and 2 initially establish that the existence of a tangible retail store, and its physical distance from consumers, each influence psychological distance and have implications for consumer trust and purchase intentions for first-time purchases. In addition, Studies 2 and 3 testsimple, theory-driven alternative strategiesthatshould compensate for the psychological distance otherwise associated with unfamiliar virtual or physically distant retailers. Specifically, Study 2 uses tangible firm imagery (i.e., a picture of an office building) to reduce psychological distance, and thereby increase trust and purchase intentions. Study 3 replicates these building imagery effects and further shows the social proximity facet of psychological distance (e.g., familiarity with the owner) can also alter such perceptions. These findings are consistent with CLT’s prediction that the different facets of psychological distance are interchangeable, in that increased tangibility and social closeness each reduce perceptions of psychological distance. Other evidence suggeststhe role of psychological distance in offsetting distrust is distinct from other explanations, such as retailer quality or online risk perceptions. The paper concludes with a discussion of practical and theoretical implications, as well as future research areas.