How we perceive things determines our actions. Perception defines reality. Our planet was once thought to be flat and that perception kept the majority of captains from sailing their vessels too far out to sea. At one time, some people were thought to be witches. They were burned at the stake to make sure they could not cast evil spells.
History is filled with similar examples.
Their perception is changing. When buying online first began to be reported by the press, it was an entirely new way to shop and involved interfacing with technology, not people. Popular perception was that we could trust people with our credit card information but no one in their right mind would type in their credit card information and send it over phone lines to a computer on the other end. When put in that perspective, many people changed their perception and concluded that online purchasing might even be safer. In addition, electronic entities have been spending millions of dollars on advertising in an effort to shape how the public perceives doing business in the online world.