Ethics in electronic commerce: An exploration of its consequences

Ethics plays an important role in the formation and maintenance of long-term buyer-seller relationship. Yet there is little research on ethics in electronic commerce (EC) contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine the consequences of consumersʹ perception regarding a transaction-process based approach for measuring ethics of EC websites. This study developed a model, in which the consequences of EC ethics included perceived value, commitment, and loyalty. Research hypotheses derived from the model were tested using structural equation modeling on responses from 548 online shoppers. The results showed that EC ethics not only had a direct impact on perceived value, commitment, and loyalty, respectively, but also had indirect influences on commitment through perceived value and on loyalty through both perceived value and commitment. Based on the findings, managerial implications were proposed for EC websites and suggestions regarding future studies were also made.