The proliferation of e-commerce platforms has led to a surge in online transactions, necessitating the use of personal and financial information. This raises concerns about data misuse and its potential impact on consumer trust. Recent reports highlight issues such as fraud, unethical practices, and data exploitation, emphasizing the need to investigate these concerns and their influence on consumer trust to develop effective consumer protection mechanisms. Strengthening security and privacy policies can enhance consumer trust, creating a competitive advantage and positively influencing e-commerce adoption. The rise of online purchase scams, particularly during the pandemic, underscores the vulnerability of consumers and the importance of understanding the factors driving trust and distrust in e-commerce.

Existing literature explores the complexities of consumer trust formation, highlighting factors such as beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and trust in individuals or organizations. Different types of trust are identified, including dispositional, institutional, and interpersonal trust. Studies emphasize the role of information clarity, textual descriptions, and seller-generated content in influencing trust. Theories such as critical theory, which examines trust as a fetish or reification, and grounded theory, which examines privacy protection and data security concerns, offer additional perspectives. Social contract theory (SCT) and economic theory (ET) highlight the importance of trustworthiness, cooperation, privacy standards, and consumer protection mechanisms in building consumer trust. The exploitation theory addresses potential power imbalances between e-commerce firms and consumers. Despite existing research on e-commerce adoption, a gap exists in understanding the multifaceted dimensions of trust and its antecedents, especially in the context of various security concerns within e-commerce environments. Specifically, there is a need for studies that integrate diverse aspects of trust (privacy, data security, ethical practices) within a comprehensive model.

This study employed a positivistic paradigm and an action research strategy with a cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 780 online shoppers in India using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire, using a 7-point Likert scale, measured awareness about privacy protection, perceived information confidentiality, preventing unauthorized secondary data usage, information integrity, trusting beliefs, and behavioral intention. The questionnaire's items were adopted from previously validated scales. Common method bias (CMB) was addressed through procedural and statistical strategies, including Harman's one-factor test, which indicated that CMB was not a concern. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses and evaluate the relationships between the variables. The sample consisted of a diverse group of students, university staff, managers, consultants, and engineers.

Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model. The structural equation model, explaining 79.9% of the variance in behavioral intention and 74% of the variance in trusting beliefs, showed significant positive relationships between several variables. Specifically, information integrity and perceived information confidentiality had the strongest positive impact on trusting beliefs. Trusting beliefs played a significant mediating role between information integrity, information confidentiality, and behavioral intention to use e-commerce platforms. The moderating effect of frequency of use on the relationship between perceived information confidentiality and preventing unauthorized secondary data usage on trusting beliefs was significant. Gender and age did not show significant moderating effects.

The findings confirm the importance of information integrity and confidentiality in building consumer trust in e-commerce platforms. The mediating role of trusting beliefs highlights the importance of these security aspects in driving consumers' intention to use e-commerce platforms. The significant moderating effect of frequency of use suggests that experienced online shoppers have a more nuanced understanding of the implications of information confidentiality and unauthorized data usage. The lack of significant moderating effects of gender and age underscores the importance of other factors. This research emphasizes the need for transparent and robust security measures to foster consumer trust, thus improving the adoption of e-commerce platforms. The results support SCT and ET, indicating the need for secure data management practices and adherence to legal norms to build consumer trust.

This study contributes to the literature by examining multiple dimensions of trust in e-commerce, highlighting the significant role of information integrity and confidentiality, and demonstrating the mediating effect of trusting beliefs. The significant moderating role of frequency of use provides valuable insights for practitioners. Future research could explore other moderating variables, longitudinal study designs, and different theoretical frameworks to broaden our understanding of consumer trust in e-commerce.

The study's cross-sectional design limits the establishment of causal relationships. The use of self-administered online surveys may introduce self-response bias. The sample, while representing population trends in India, may not be fully generalizable to other contexts. Future research should address these limitations through longitudinal studies, diverse sampling techniques, and explore a wider range of factors influencing consumer trust.