Drew Weidenbacher
(360) 393-9266 or dweidenbacher@qwest.net
George Cvetkovich
(360) 650-3544 or George.Cvetkovich@wwu.edu
May 23, 2006
BELLINGHAM – Using his own experience on Wall Street along with mentoring by one of the nation’s leading experts on “trust,” Western Washington University master’s graduate Drew Weidenbacher has completed research that points to the importance of “virtual reputations” in Internet consumerism.
Weidenbacher’s research, which was published as a master’s thesis in March, is titled “Willingness to Rely on eBay Sellers: The Effects of Value Similarity and Trust.”
“We looked at one of the most popular e-commerce sites, eBay, and did several pilot studies to determine what information about sellers was most important to buyers’ decisions,” Weidenbacher said. “Sellers with long experience and good previous-buyer ratings were more trusted. The findings indicate the importance of trust to e-commerce and that trust in eBay sellers is based on sellers’ virtual reputations.”
The former stock market trader’s research uniquely examined Internet consumerism from a behavioral perspective, rather than from the typical economic standpoint.
“Everything that has ever been written or quantified in economics and consumer behavior takes on a new meaning in this ‘Internet Age,’” Weidenbacher said. “The Internet is here to stay. Consumers and businesses alike need to understand how e-commerce behavior differs from behavior with ‘brick and mortar’ merchandisi ng. Consumers and businesses must find that new place in the middle, where buyer meets seller in cyber space.”
Weidenbacher said the inspiration for his thesis was two-part: his own professional experience and his thesis advisor, Western psychology professor George Cvetkovich, who has taught at WWU for more than 37 years and continues to research trust, primarily in the context of hazard and risk management.
“I initially became interested in consumer behavior because of my experience as a Wall Street trader,” Weidenbacher said. “Professor Cvetkovich was my second inspiration. As someone with a long experience in research on trust, he encouraged me to think beyond traditional economic concepts and forced me to view things from behavioral and psychological perspectives.”
“The key to my thesis was when I came to realize and understand that the engine driving e-commerce decision-making was the individual’s own feelings about trust, including emotionally identifying a similarity of values with the seller,” Weidenbacher said.
Weidenbacher, who lives in Bellingham, graduated from WWU in March with a master’s degree in psychology. He also has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from Bernard Baruch College in New York City. Weidenbacher continues to research consumer behavior and has a consulting business strictly for advice on e-commerce and individuals’ behaviors.
“There is still so much left to understand about individuals’ behaviors when interfacing with the Internet,” Weidenbacher said.