Some Internet users do see the benefit of shopping on-line. Purchasers are more likely to be male, have higher household incomes than average and see themselves as financial risk takers. The most popular Internet purchases are computer software and hardware, books and magazines, and CDs or cassettes. There is always some hesitancy involved in doing things a new way. Consumers' reluctance to embrace electronic commerce, however, reflects a deeper concern with key consumer protection issues that arise from this way of doing business.
Consumers have six main concerns.
This increases the riskiness of the transaction, including the chance of fraud, the possibility that the merchant will not deliver the product or service, or the likelihood that the consumer will not be able to resolve a dispute with the merchant. Scam artists can establish a false identity relatively easily, set up operations cheaply, process large numbers of transactions quickly, and move on before being caught. Even if they are caught, the global nature of the Internet exacerbates the problem, since it is not clear which jurisdiction's laws apply. Knowing the identity and location of a business provides consumers with a means to determine that firm's reliability and reputation, and is the first step in resolving a dispute. While the Internet feeds consumers' insatiable appetite for more information, even volumes of facts on products and services are of little value unless the information is accurate, truthful and presented in an easily accessible form.