Antecedents of Consumer Trust in Nigerian E-Commerce Platforms: A Quantitative Investigation

This study quantitatively investigates the antecedents of consumer trust in Nigerian e-commerce platforms, drawing evidence from online shoppers in Lagos State, South West Nigeria, and Anambra State, South East Nigeria. Consumer trust has been consistently identified as a fundamental prerequisite for e-commerce adoption and repeat purchase behaviour, yet the specific trust formation mechanisms in Nigerian e-commerce contexts remain incompletely understood. Nigeria's e-commerce market has experienced significant growth but simultaneously faces persistent challenges including product misrepresentation, delivery failures, and payment fraud concerns that erode consumer trust. Grounded in institutional-based trust theory and signalling theory, the study operationalises trust antecedents across platform reputation signals, security assurance mechanisms, perceived platform competence, and third-party endorsements, testing their effects on consumer trust formation and purchase continuance intention. A cross-sectional quantitative survey of 400 e-commerce consumers is conducted using stratified random sampling. SEM via AMOS is employed for model estimation and mediation testing. Preliminary findings confirm that platform reputation and perceived security competence are the dominant trust antecedents, with third-party endorsements (consumer protection seals and verified review programmes) playing a significant moderating role in trust formation among first-time platform users. The study provides e-commerce platform operators, payment service providers, and consumer protection regulators with evidence-based guidance on building trusted digital retail environments in Nigeria. Keywords: consumer trust, e-commerce, trust antecedents, online shopping, Nigeria