Online auction (eBay) trust building
There are two popular tools used in online auction to build trust among the customer, whereas feedback system and forum community. These tools are believed will bring positive effect to the user. Unlike e-commerce trust building, online auction trust building is more complex, this is because online auction involving many sellers that buyer never know who they are. Therefore, the chance being cheated in online auction is high. Following this, I will discuss the feedback system and forum community in order to increases customer trust, the advantages and disadvantages. Why use eBay? I think everybody already know that eBay is the king of online auction, so I think this is will become a good example.
Feedback system
The most significance tool to pull up user’s trust on eBay is by using feedback system. The purpose of feedback system is both seller and buyer can give a testimonial about their activities during the transaction. Feedback system allows user to give evaluation after the transaction ending. In eBay, there are three feedback’s categories positive, negative, and neutral. Hence, user can leave negative or positive, or neutral feedback based on their experience during transaction. Negative feedback will be given to whom that cheats during transaction; it could be either buyer or seller. The feedback history will remain on the user’s account and can be seen by the future users. Seller who receives positive feedback will have good reputation and it leads to increasing the number of bidder (potential buyer) (Livingston, 2005). Positive feedback for seller is absolute since the positive feedback has impact on price (Brown & Morgan, 2006).
The feedback system also can be used as an assessment tool for both buyer and seller before transaction, because feedback system also contains of descriptive evaluation such as ‘good e-buyer’, ‘smooth transaction, nice to deal with’, etc. Seller can take advantage from feedback as well, they can approach the potential user with positive feedback based on user’s feedback history, and attract them with some promotion stuff (Dholaika, 2004). Seller got more confidence to sell their product without risk of fake bidder. Buyer can use the seller feedback description history so ensure that the buyer has goodwill.
Forum community
EBay also develops forum community that consists of interactive services where user can interact with other user. The services are, eBay my world that using social networking concept. User can found people who have similar interest in particular product, brand, and other stuff. Discussion board is a place where user can discuss everything about eBay product, system, and can ask some question about everything. Discussion board is very helpful media for user to gather particular information about product, selling and buying, seller reputation, and whatsoever. Answer center, the center provides quick help to answer user question, this center is a communication media between user and eBay staff as well as with other eBay user. The question could be about technical issues, tools, registration, bidding and buying, eBay stores, and many more. The last services is eBay blog, the blog is unique value for eBay. User can use it to write their story about their experience while using eBay, sometimes is positive experience but sometimes it’s talking about bad experience. Other user can take advantages by reading the user’s blog.
The advantages of feedback and forum community system
1. Help user to make a decision, eBay dealing with many anonymous individual from all around the globe. Users never know each other, and have no idea where they live. The chance to be cheated or fraudulence is high. There is no strict control on users, once user is registered on eBay, they can sell and buy stuff there. Feedback system help user by giving real evidence from real people and the evidence will help them to make a decision whether they purchase on eBay or not.
2. Increase price, through positive feedback history, seller can attract more buyer therefore the product price will increase.
3. Develops good reputation, feedback system has function to build the user’s reputation. Good reputation will lead to increasing the buyer trust.
4. Gives quick response to every question, user has 24/7 ‘hotline service’ that be able to answer their question anytime.
5. User got a lot of information about the bad / cheat seller in the forum, so they can avoid to make transaction with them.
The disadvantages of feedback system and forum community:
1. Seller has opportunity to manipulate their positive feedback or to boost their positive feedback by cheating on it. For example, seller may sells very cheap items in a big number in order to yield positive feedback, once they got positive feedback then the seller start to sell expensive item. On eBay user has role as seller and buyer in one time, so, sometimes seller combine their feedback (from seller and buyer).
2. Seller can easily change identity when they got negative feedback from buyer. There is no strict regulation from eBay on registration process. So people can easily change address, phone number, and email.
3. User can use the negative feedback to its competitor without any good reason. The intention is to make the competitor bankrupt.
4. Some people are afraid to gives negative feedback to other user because they will hit them back with negative feedback as well, so they just let the feedback neutral.
5. The information quality, even though answer center provides quick response, but the information quality is questionable. The reason is, there are many new and inexperience eBay user that might reply to the question. So, user must ensure the source of the answer before they take an action.
Discussion
The online auction company like eBay must be has a good system to increase user’s trust and minimize the fraudulence. Those two methods are still become the good solution for online auction. EBay leave all of the decision to the community (eBay member/user), the user should think critically before shopping on eBay because eBay system is like a free market where individual seller and buyer is in there. It is impossible to eBay to teach all of novice users individually. Compare to online store, where buyer is treated specially from choosing until paying the staff. The eBay user should be proactive and have knowledge to determine whether the seller is trusted or not.
Feedback system is one of the examples of tools to increase user’s trust on eBay, and seller particularly. However, eBay also can develop other method such as provides clear policy statement that guarantee to covers all of user’s lost. Provides statement about the punishment scheme for every fraud happen on eBay. Ebay should improves the information quality, including information about product and services, improve the interaction quality with the user, and integrated view of website quality (Barnes & Vedgen, 2001).
References:
Barnes, SJ. & Vedgen, RT. (2001). Assessing the quality of auction websites. Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Science.
Brown, J & Morgan, J. (2006). Reputation in online auctions: the market for trust. California Management Review, Vol. 49.
Dholakia, UM. (2004). The usefulness of bidder’s reputation ratings to sellers in online auctions. Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 19 No. 1.
Livingston, JA. (2005). How valuable is a good reputation? A sample selection model of internet auction. The Review of Economic and Statistic, Vol. 87, No. 3.