This research addressed the question of how information technology (IT) tools influence the perceived risk of consumers in e-commerce transactions in three phases. First, an exposure-driven model of e-commerce transaction perceived risk was developed and tested, providing a theoretical and conceptual basis for this research. Nine salient risk beliefs were modeled as formative dimensions of three risk belief categories based on prior perceived risk research: information misuse risk, performance risk, and functionality inefficiency risk. The model was tested in an online survey of 565 internet users. The results support the proposed construct of e-commerce transaction perceived risk, modeled as formed by the three proposed risk categories, validating the measurement model and finding that the construct was associated as expected with accepted e-commerce constructs in a nomological network. In the second phase, this model was used to examine the ways in which IT tools influence those beliefs. Participants were asked to observe an example of one risk-reducing IT tool (RRIT) and to indicate their willingness to use the tool for reducing the probability of each risk category and risk dimension. This research confirmed that consumers do perceive RRIT as being useful in reducing the probabilities of risk categories, compared to their willingness to adopt a control IT tool or other RRIT for that purpose. The final phase of this research investigates the adoption and influence of RRIT. Participants were shown an example RRIT and were asked to compare a store providing the tool to an identical website that did not provide the tool. This research supported hypotheses that perceived improvements in the probability of one or more of the risk dimensions when an RRIT is provided would lead to an intention to adopt the RRIT, and that the intention to adopt the RRIT would be associated with an improvement in attitude toward buying from a web retailer and the subsequent improvement in intention to buy from a web retailer.

This research addressed the question of how information technology (IT) tools influence the perceived risk of consumers in e-commerce transactions in three phases. First, an exposure-driven model of e-commerce transaction perceived risk was developed and tested, providing a theoretical and conceptual basis for this research. Nine salient risk beliefs were modeled as formative dimensions of three risk belief categories based on prior perceived risk research: information misuse risk, performance risk, and functionality inefficiency risk. The model was tested in an online survey of 565 internet users. The results support the proposed construct of e-commerce transaction perceived risk, modeled as formed by the three proposed risk categories, validating the measurement model and finding that the construct was associated as expected with accepted e-commerce constructs in a nomological network. In the second phase, this model was used to examine the ways in which IT tools influence those beliefs. Participants were asked to observe an example of one risk-reducing IT tool (RRIT) and to indicate their willingness to use the tool for reducing the probability of each risk category and risk dimension. This research confirmed that consumers do perceive RRIT as being useful in reducing the probabilities of risk categories, compared to their willingness to adopt a control IT tool or other RRIT for that purpose. The final phase of this research investigates the adoption and influence of RRIT. Participants were shown an example RRIT and were asked to compare a store providing the tool to an identical website that did not provide the tool. This research supported hypotheses that perceived improvements in the probability of one or more of the risk dimensions when an RRIT is provided would lead to an intention to adopt the RRIT, and that the intention to adopt the RRIT would be associated with an improvement in attitude toward buying from a web retailer and the subsequent improvement in intention to buy from a web retailer.

This research addressed the question of how information technology (IT) tools influence the perceived risk of consumers in e-commerce transactions in three phases. First, an exposure-driven model of e-commerce transaction perceived risk was developed and tested, providing a theoretical and conceptual basis for this research. Nine salient risk beliefs were modeled as formative dimensions of three risk belief categories based on prior perceived risk research: information misuse risk, performance risk, and functionality inefficiency risk. The model was tested in an online survey of 565 internet users. The results support the proposed construct of e-commerce transaction perceived risk, modeled as formed by the three proposed risk categories, validating the measurement model and finding that the construct was associated as expected with accepted e-commerce constructs in a nomological network. In the second phase, this model was used to examine the ways in which IT tools influence those beliefs. Participants were asked to observe an example of one risk-reducing IT tool (RRIT) and to indicate their willingness to use the tool for reducing the probability of each risk category and risk dimension. This research confirmed that consumers do perceive RRIT as being useful in reducing the probabilities of risk categories, compared to their willingness to adopt a control IT tool or other RRIT for that purpose. The final phase of this research investigates the adoption and influence of RRIT. Participants were shown an example RRIT and were asked to compare a store providing the tool to an identical website that did not provide the tool. This research supported hypotheses that perceived improvements in the probability of one or more of the risk dimensions when an RRIT is provided would lead to an intention to adopt the RRIT, and that the intention to adopt the RRIT would be associated with an improvement in attitude toward buying from a web retailer and the subsequent improvement in intention to buy from a web retailer. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Este artículo presenta un estudio acerca del riesgo percibido en el sector de la construcción. El estudio se realizó a partir del análisis de cuestionarios provenientes de una muestra de trabajadores de la construcción del sur de España. Se presenta el perfil del riesgo percibido obtenido según los enfoques del llamado paradigma psicométrico a través de atributos cualitativos y se analizan los resultados. El atributo relativo a como el trabajo afecta a la salud a largo plazo es el más puntuado. Lo cual representa una novedad con respecto a otros estudios previos. A su vez se analizan mediante un análisis de la varianza (ANOVA) los efectos de la variable sociodemográfica oficio con respecto a los distintos atributos del riesgo percibido del cuestionario. Se presentan las diferencias obtenidas entre el grupo de albañiles y estructuristas. / This article presents a study of the perceived risk in the construction sector. The study was conducted from the analysis of questionnaires from several samples of construction workers from southern Spain. We report the perceived risk profile obtained from the psychometric paradigm through qualitative attributes and then we analyze the results. Stands out the attribute regarding how work affects our own long-term health. This represents something new with respect to previous studies. Also analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) the effects of socio-demographic variable craft with respect to the different attributes of the perceived risk of the questionnaire. It presents the differences obtained between the group of masons and framers.

Road trauma is recognized as a major public health problem worldwide (particularly for younger drivers), and risky driving has been identified as an important contributor to road crashes. It is often assumed that similar factors influence all risky driving behaviours, although direct and systematic examination of the differences between risky driving behaviours in terms of precipitating factors is lacking. The present thesis sought to undertake a systematic investigation of relevant factors in the prediction of four key risky driving behaviours (speeding, drink-driving, driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts). Four versions of a Risky Driving Questionnaire were developed to assess beliefs, personality factors and behavioural intentions, in relation to each of the four behaviours. Four versions of the Implicit Association Test were developed to assess attitudes toward each of the four behaviours, without reliance on self-report (in terms of the relative strength of pairs of associations). Data were collected from a student sample (N=215: Study 1), as well as urban (N=587) and rural (N=422) general population samples (Study 2), and regression models were examined for each of the four behaviours, with interaction terms to assess moderations involving perceived risk. Mediations involving gender were also assessed. Results indicate that different risky driving behaviours are predicted by different factors. For example, in the urban sample, speeding was predicted by driver anger and illusory invulnerability, drink driving was predicted by peer influence, driving while fatigued was predicted by the perceived benefits of not driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts was predicted by the (sensation seeking x illusory invulnerability) interaction. Results also suggest that different predictors of risky driving behaviours are relevant for different driver populations. For example, speeding was predicted by authority rebellion in the urban sample, and by sensation seeking in the rural sample. Observed moderations of perceived risk suggest that relationships between perceived risk and risky driving may differ for males versus females, and for low versus high sensation seekers. Findings suggest that future road safety interventions should be based on research of the determinants of individual risky driving behaviours, and in specific driver populations.

The motivations underlying consumers¡¦ purchase of luxury brands are valued in the industry and in the research field. On the other hand, consumers not only could buy luxury brands from luxury brands¡¦ store, but could buy them from second-hand store or just rent them. They even could buy counterfeit luxury brands which almost have the same performance with luxury brands. There are also many extant literatures about these consumers¡¦ behavior. But it still lacks the discussion about the differences between consumers who have different consumption behaviors. The motivation of this research is to fill up this research gap and to discuss the differences between consumers who have different consumption behaviors for luxury brands. Perceived risk theory is adopted in this research. The purpose of this research is to explore the differences in performance risk, financial risk, psychological risk, social risk and time risk between consumers who have different consumption behaviors for luxury brands. This research is verified through the survey study. Collectively, the results support that: the consumers who have different consumption behaviors for luxury brands have different combinations of perceived risk.

In the group-buying transaction, consumers will not know the final price until the transaction is closed. It means that there are uncertainties of the final price and time to reach a desired price. In other words, consumers have financial risk and time risk in group-buying transactions. In addition, different pricing strategies of group-buying may result in different risks. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the perceived risks of consumers affect their intentions to participate the online group-buying with different pricing mechanisms, i.e. decreasing, neutral and increasing. The result shows that because group-buying models with different pricing mechanisms have different initial prices, final prices and discounts, the risks perceived by consumers are different and then, affect consumers¡¦ intention to participate the online group-buying. Among these three pricing mechanisms, decreasing pricing mechanism makes consumers perceive higher risk than other pricing mechanisms because its initial price is higher. The more the consumers¡¦ perceived risks are, the lower the consumers¡¦ intentions to participate the online group-buying are. Therefore, group-buying with decreasing pricing mechanism can not attract consumers to join the online group-buying efficiently. Furthermore, this study finds that perceived usefulness and satisfaction affect consumers¡¦ intentions to participate the online group-buying significantly. In addition, all consumers¡¦ perceived risks, perceived usefulness and intentions to participate online group-buying influence consumers¡¦ actual participating behavior significantly.

This study takes ¡§the Health food of nutrition¡¨, ¡§Cosmetic skin care products¡¨, and ¡§the Articles for cleanness¡¨ as the representatives of direct-selling products. With the network questionnaires to investigate ¡§Consumer characteristics¡¨ of ¡§Netizens¡¨, and how they influence the levels of various perceived risk, and the helpfulness of risk reduction strategies, with SEM to analysis the structure between seven kinds of perceived risk, with the method which was used by Roselius (1971) to measure the helpfulness of risk reduction strategies, and with Cluster, Correlate, ANOVA to analysis the way how ¡§Consumer characteristics¡¨ of ¡§Netizens¡¨ influence perceived risks and risk reduction strategies, and the way how perceived risks influence risk reduction strategies. There are five important conclusions, describing as following: 1. There are differences between three kinds of direct-selling products on the perceived risks of ¡§Performance¡¨, ¡§Psychology¡¨, and ¡§Overall¡¨. 2. In the structure of constructing the path to form the ¡§Overall risk¡¨ by six kinds of risks, the direct and indirect result exists at the same time. 3. Different ¡§Consumer characteristics¡¨ will influence different kinds of perceived risks, and the most meaningful characteristics are ¡§the Types of direct-selling consumers¡¨ and ¡§the attitude toward shopping through direct-selling¡¨. 4. Different ¡§Consumer characteristics¡¨ will influence the helpfulness of different risk reduction strategies, and the most meaningful characteristics are ¡§Age¡¨, ¡§Location¡¨, and ¡§the Types of direct-selling consumers¡¨. 5. Various perceived risks will influence the helpfulness of different risk reduction strategies, and only the helpfulness of ¡§Free sample¡¨ will be enhanced. There are three points about managerial implications and suggestions, describing as following: 1. ¡§Private testing¡¨, ¡§Government testing¡¨, and ¡§Major brand image¡¨ are capable of reducing the ¡§Performance risk¡¨ effectively, and then reduce the levels of ¡§Overall risk¡¨ perception to decrease the perceived sacrifice of product value and to enhance it to the original levels of product value. 2. For the ¡§Netizen¡¨ who are not becoming a member, and not using direct-selling products quite often, ¡§Free sample¡¨ with ¡§Replace product guarantee¡¨ or ¡§Money-back guarantee¡¨ are capable of reducing the levels of risk perception effectively. 3. In the long run, direct-selling companies should endeavor to prove the image of direct-selling, because ¡§the attitude toward shopping through direct-selling¡¨ is an important factor to influence the levels of risk perception and the helpfulness of the risk reduction strategies. And ¡§Industry autonomy¡¨ is a good risk reduction strategy, but not be known by the public. There is a long way for TDSA ¡]Taiwan Direct Selling Association¡^ to go, because popularity and public trust are insufficient. Key words: Consumer characteristics, Perceived risk, Risk reduction strategy

Road trauma is recognized as a major public health problem worldwide (particularly for younger drivers), and risky driving has been identified as an important contributor to road crashes. It is often assumed that similar factors influence all risky driving behaviours, although direct and systematic examination of the differences between risky driving behaviours in terms of precipitating factors is lacking. The present thesis sought to undertake a systematic investigation of relevant factors in the prediction of four key risky driving behaviours (speeding, drink-driving, driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts). Four versions of a Risky Driving Questionnaire were developed to assess beliefs, personality factors and behavioural intentions, in relation to each of the four behaviours. Four versions of the Implicit Association Test were developed to assess attitudes toward each of the four behaviours, without reliance on self-report (in terms of the relative strength of pairs of associations). Data were collected from a student sample (N=215: Study 1), as well as urban (N=587) and rural (N=422) general population samples (Study 2), and regression models were examined for each of the four behaviours, with interaction terms to assess moderations involving perceived risk. Mediations involving gender were also assessed. Results indicate that different risky driving behaviours are predicted by different factors. For example, in the urban sample, speeding was predicted by driver anger and illusory invulnerability, drink driving was predicted by peer influence, driving while fatigued was predicted by the perceived benefits of not driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts was predicted by the (sensation seeking x illusory invulnerability) interaction. Results also suggest that different predictors of risky driving behaviours are relevant for different driver populations. For example, speeding was predicted by authority rebellion in the urban sample, and by sensation seeking in the rural sample. Observed moderations of perceived risk suggest that relationships between perceived risk and risky driving may differ for males versus females, and for low versus high sensation seekers. Findings suggest that future road safety interventions should be based on research of the determinants of individual risky driving behaviours, and in specific driver populations.

As technology advances, the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) surpasses the influence of traditional face-to-face WOM communication on consumers’ decision making. Since the hospitality and tourism products and services contain more interpersonal interaction that needs to be experienced by consumers, the influence of eWOM in the hospitality industry is more significant than in other industries. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among source credibility of eWOM, customers’ perceived risk, and their behavior intentions to use consumer generated media. The result provides evidence about the influence of eWOM on overall perceived risk and how consumers use eWOM to manage and reduce the potential risks when making their lodging decisions. Academically, it confirms the significance of eWOM influence and connects the gap in the previous literatures between source credibility of eWOM and perceived risk research. Practically, hoteliers can set their marketing strategies precisely aimed to consumers’ needs and are able to build good reputations through those online travel forums or hotel review sites.