Consumer Trust In E-Commerce Web Sites Alarmingly Low, Consumer Reports WebWatch Research Finds

Consumer Reports WebWatch Launches New Site, Proposes Guidelines to Help Improve Credibility

Guidelines, Research Findings Now Available at ConsumerWebWatch.org

YONKERS, N.Y. — Consumer Reports WebWatch, a Consumers Union non-profit research project aimed at improving the credibility of online content, today released research findings revealing that consumer trust of Web content is alarmingly low, with less than 30 percent of respondents saying they trust the information found on sites that sell products and services.

Most Americans want to find accurate information on the sites they visit, and believe that Web sites must better distinguish advertising from content and fully disclose fees before they earn high marks for credibility, according to Consumer Reports WebWatch's findings. The study, conducted by the independent research group Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA), is based on 1,500 telephone interviews conducted from December 20, 2001 to January 7, 2002 with U.S. Internet users, age 18 and older, on their impressions of news and information and e-commerce sites.

Research Highlights:

• Only 29 percent of users say they trust Web sites that sell products and services, a far lower figure than for traditional, offline institutions.
• 80 percent of users say it is very important to be able to trust the information on a Web site.
• 59 percent of users say that it is very important that advertising be clearly labeled and distinguished from news and information.
• 95 percent of users say it is very important that sites disclose all fees.
• 93 percent of users say it is very important that sites disclose how they will protect credit card information.
• Most users, 60 percent, do not know that some commonly used search engines are paid to list some sites more prominently than others. Eighty percent of users demand that the search engines reveal such financial deals.
• Users want news and information sites to clearly disclose what their privacy policies are and to clearly separate editorial content from advertising. Users generally attribute the same levels of credibility to online news and information sites as they do their offline parents.

"As consumers settle into the realities of a world where the Internet has changed many aspects of how they live their lives, they are starting to question more and more how much they should trust Web content," said Beau Brendler, director of Consumer Reports WebWatch. "Using the Web should not be a game of 20 questions. Consumer Reports WebWatch will encourage sites to be more transparent about the financial interests behind the content they publish, and provide tools to help consumers feel more confident about using the Web."

In concert with those findings, Consumer Reports WebWatch will promote a core set of guidelines for Web sites to help improve the credibility of online information. The guidelines come from this survey research, and as a result of extensive review by Consumer Reports WebWatch's diverse advisory board.

The guidelines and research findings can be accessed at the project's Web site, www.consumerwebwatch.org, which launched officially today.

Consumer Reports WebWatch Guidelines
Consumer Reports WebWatch believes Web sites will promote Web credibility if they adopt these basic policies:

1. Identity. Web sites should clearly disclose the physical location where they are produced, including an address, a telephone number or e-mail address. Sites should clearly disclose their ownership, private or public, naming their parent company. Sites should clearly disclose their purpose and mission.
   
   
2. Advertising and Sponsorships. Sites should clearly distinguish advertising from news and information, using labels or other visual means. This includes "in-house" advertising or cross-corporate ad sponsorships. Search engines, shopping tools and portals should clearly disclose paid result-placement advertising, so consumers may distinguish between objective search results and paid ads. Sites should clearly disclose relevant business relationships, including sponsored links to other sites. For example: A site that directs a reader to another site to buy a book should clearly disclose any financial relationship between the two sites. Sites should identify sponsors. The site's sponsorship policies should be clearly noted in accompanying text or on an "About Us" or "Site Center" page.
   
   
3. Customer Service. Sites engaged in consumer transactions should clearly disclose relevant financial relationships with other sites, particularly when these relationships affect the cost to a consumer. Sites should clearly disclose all fees charged, including service, transaction and handling fees, and shipping costs. This information should be disclosed before the ordering process begins. Sites should clearly state and enforce policies for returning unwanted items or canceling transactions or reservations.
   
   
4. Corrections. Sites should diligently seek to correct false, misleading or incorrect information. Sites should prominently display a page or section of the site where incorrect information is corrected or clarified. Sites should strive to mark content with its published date when failing to do so could mislead consumers. Sites should clearly state their policy on a consumer's rights if a purchase is made based on incorrect information on the site.
   
   
5. Privacy. Site privacy policies should be easy to find and clearly, simply stated. Sites should clearly disclose how personal data from site visitors and customers will be used. Personal data includes name, address, phone number and credit card number. Sites should disclose whether they use browser-tracking mechanisms such as "cookies," and other technologies such as Web beacons, bugs and robots. Sites should explain how data collected from them will be used. Sites should notify customers of changes to privacy policies and provide an easy opt-out alternative.

Consumer Reports WebWatch believes that Web site readers should be able to find these policies easily, on an "About Us" or "Site Center" page navigable from the home and other site pages.

Consumer Reports WebWatch embraces Consumers Union's proven methods of independent, unbiased, expert evaluations as pioneered by ConsumerReports.org with its ratings of e-commerce sites. Moving forward, ConsumerReports.org will adopt Consumer Reports WebWatch's credibility guidelines and criteria for its e-Ratings.

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The Consumer Reports WebWatch mission is to investigate; inform; and improve the credibility of information on the Web. ConsumerWebWatch.org will be home to research and analysis on issues of credibility, usability and content, along with news of use to consumers navigating the Web.

Consumer Reports WebWatch is a project of Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and ConsumerReports.org. The project is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which invests in ideas that fuel timely action and results; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities; and the Open Society Institute, which encourages debate in areas in which one view of an issue dominates all others.