Nguyen Huy Hoang

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
E-commerce has become one of Vietnam’s most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors, reshaping consumer purchasing behavior in the digital economy. This study investigates the key determinants of consumers’ trust and its mediating role in online purchase decisions in Vietnam. Primary data were collected through an online survey of 419 Vietnamese consumers who had made at least one purchase on major e-commerce platforms (e.g., Shopee, TikTok, Facebook) during the previous six months. This sampling frame ensured that all respondents had recent and relevant experience with online shopping in Vietnam’s e-commerce market. Data were collected between October 2024 and August 2025 using a structured questionnaire and analyzed with PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4.1. The findings reveal that website quality (β = 0.235, p < 0.01), reference groups (β = 0.209, p < 0.01), perceived service quality (β = 0.184, p < 0.01), and information security (β = 0.171, p < 0.01) significantly enhance Vietnamese consumers’ trust in online shopping. Suppliers’ reputation (β = 0.106, p < 0.01) and suppliers’ size (β = 0.067, p < 0.01) indirectly strengthen consumers’ trust through website quality and perceived service quality, respectively. The study further confirms that trust serves as an essential mediating construct, meaningfully strengthening online purchase decisions among Vietnamese consumers (β = 0.608, p < 0.01). These findings underscore the central importance of trust in shaping consumer behavior in emerging e-commerce markets, indicating that enhancing website quality, improving service reliability, and strengthening data protection can contribute to more sustainable online purchasing behavior among Vietnamese consumers.

Acknowledgments
The authors received no financial support or external funding for conducting this research or preparing the manuscript. All analyses and interpretations were carried out independently by the authors.