The Digital Natives - Generation Z - How to create trust within the new generation of e-shoppers

Abstract: The online market is now more vivid than ever; there is a brisk inflow of new customers, companies, goods and money. Never before have so many companies expressed interest in going online. The sharpening competition increases the importance of the new online customers, the young customers of Generation Z. People born between the early 1990s and 2010 are a unique group known as the Digital Natives - the first generation who has grown up in the middle of advanced informational technology. A generation born into a global world, constantly virtually connected with a lifelong use of communications and media technology. With a new generation standing at the verge of the online shopping world at the same time as the future of the retail industry is considered to lie online, the development of trust among young people is essential for future success. Therefore we dedicate our thesis to analyzing the antecedents of consumer trust in Internet shopping since this may be the key to the online retail treasures. We have put forward two hypotheses to examine what drives trust in e-commerce as well as in individual e-merchants within generation Z. Also, three hypotheses examines whether the generational differences makes the chosen theoretical model inappropriate to apply on the target population. To achieve a deeper understanding we have combined a quantitative study with focus groups and in-depth interviews.