Multichannel versus Pure E-securities Brokers: Impact of Customers’ Assessment of Website Attributes on E-relationship

This study compared customers of multichannel securities brokers with customers of pure e-brokers in their evaluations of online website attributes and the attributes’ impacts on e-trust and e-loyalty. An online survey of 339 securities investors on the Internet was conducted. Variance analysis as well as multigroup analysis showed that online trust as well as six features of the website were evaluated more highly for multichannel broker than for pure e-brokers. Findings also showed that website security/ privacy as well as quality support contribute to online trust for both type of brokers, however quality support is the only attribute whose impact is higher for the e-broker. Interactivity, personalization and social presence contribute to online trust only among multichannel brokers. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.