Consumer trust toward retail websites: Comparison between pure click and click-and-brick retailers

•Effect of security on consumer's e-trust.•Effect of social presence of retailers on consumer's e-trust.•Comparison between pure click and click-and-brick retailers.•Influence of website credibility and benevolence on website attitude.•Impact of social presence on website credibility and benevolence.

This paper examines the effects of security/privacy and social presence of retailers on consumer's e-trust in two different contexts: pure click and click and brick retailers. It explores how e-trust affects consumer attitudes toward websites and WOM. A conceptual model is tested using Structural Equation Modeling, on a random sample of 989 French customers. Results suggest that perceived website social presence and perceived security/privacy exert strong and positive impacts on website credibility and benevolence, which in turn directly influence website attitudes and indirectly influence word-of-mouth. One major difference between pure click and click-and-brick retailers is that the role of social presence in developing online benevolence is more important in the case of pure click retailers. The study concludes with managerial implications that may be useful in retail marketing.