Effects of assurance mechanisms and consumer concerns on online purchase decisions: An empirical study

Online purchases are constantly challenged by potential threats which include compromised vendors' security and breaches of customer privacy. To mitigate these concerns, several information assurance mechanisms (e.g., assurance statements and third-party certifications) have gained attention in practice. Despite the wide deployment of assurance mechanisms, it remains largely unknown as to how online consumers interpret these assurance mechanisms and how their concerns affect their purchase decisions. Focusing on two information security assurance mechanisms (i.e., assurance statements and third-party assurance seals services) and three focal concerns of online consumers (i.e., privacy, security, and product and service concerns), this study investigates how security assurance mechanisms influence purchase decisions through alleviating the three focal concerns. The empirical results of the study reveal the relative strength and weakness of the two assurance mechanisms and also uncover the mediating roles of the focal concerns between assurance mechanisms and online consumers' purchase intentions. Post hoc analysis further shows that assurance seals supplement the effects of assurance statements on privacy concern and product and service concern, which is also a new finding to the literature. Finally, results show that concerns on security and privacy displace concern on product and service (a non-information security concern), when effects of the three concerns are concurrently considered by consumers. The implications of findings for both theory and practice are discussed.