The study of the effects of consumer perception of online retail ethics on brand equity

Authors

Abstract

The rapid growth of e-commerce and the ever-increasing rise of online businesses have led to increased consumer concerns over ethical issues surrounding online shopping. By accepting the Internet as a source for retail, ethical issues related to the use of the Internet have created serious concerns for consumers and new challenges for activists in this area. These unethical activities influences customer relationship with online stores and their brand equity. This study aims to investigate the effects of consumers' perception of online retail ethical activities on Digi  Kala Online Store brand equity. This research is an applied research and the required data are collected through distribution of the questionnaire online and through social networks among 384 customers of DK's goods. To test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling has been used. The results showed that security, reliability, commitment, deception and, generally speaking, consumer perception of the ethical nature of DK's activities have a positive and significant effect on the brand equity. The effect of privacy variable on brand equity was not confirmed in this study.

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