Trust Formation in O2O Commerce: The Conditional Role of Brand Familiarity on Consumer Responses to Marketing Cues
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/aej.v12i1.14032Keywords:
O2O commerce, O2O marketing mix, brand familiarity, customer trust, Generation ZAbstract
The integration of online and offline channels in O2O commerce increases the complexity of customer trust formation, as consumers must interpret multiple cross-channel cues when interacting with platforms. While prior research has examined the direct influence of O2O marketing mix elements on trust, limited attention has been given to how consumers’ prior brand knowledge shapes cue reliance. This study investigates the conditional and selective role of brand familiarity in moderating the relationships between five O2O marketing mix dimensions—product, price, promotion, service, and convenience—and customer trust among Generation Z consumers in China. Survey data from 210 respondents with integrated online– offline shopping experience were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that product, price, and service positively affect trust, with service exerting the strongest influence; promotion negatively affects trust, likely due to perceived manipulation or discount skepticism, while convenience shows no significant effect, reflecting its role as a baseline expectation for digitally savvy consumers. Brand familiarity selectively moderates trust formation, significantly strengthening the service–trust relationship, but showing no significant effect on product, price, promotion, or convenience. This study contributes theoretically by refining the stimulus–organism–response framework to account for heterogeneous and conditional trust formation mechanisms, and practically by guiding platforms to differentiate trust-building strategies based on consumer familiarity—emphasizing service quality for low-familiarity consumers and maintaining product consistency for highfamiliarity consumers, while treating promotion and convenience with appropriate caution.
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