Introduction

Due to the rapid growth of electronic commerce (e-commerce), organizations can communicate with customers and sell products globally through Internet channels. Recently, the market of e-commerce is fast growing. eMarketer (2016) projects that worldwide retail e-commerce sales, which include products and services, will reach $4.058 trillion in 2020 and account for 14.6% of total retail spending that year. Pew Research Center's (2016) research findings also suggested that roughly 80% Americans are online shoppers. Among these online shoppers, 15% of them purchase online on a weekly basis. In such a competitive business environment, it is very important for online vendors to build ethical relationships with customers, in order to retain customers and increase revenue. Thus, customer relations in the e-commerce environment has become a current research issue. Researchers (e.g., Burgess & Karanasios, 2008; Beatty, Relay, Dick, & Miller, 2011; Davis, Buchanan-Oliver, & Brodie, 1999; Hajli, 2014; Lee, Chu, & Chao, 2011; Wu & Huang, 2015) attempt to explore customer relations and consumer relations in the e-commerce environment.

In the e-commerce environment, customer relations and consumer relations are closely related concepts, because of the nature of online shopping. Different from in-store shopping, consumers in general and specific online vendors' customers need to face higher level of uncertainty when shopping online. Either online consumers in general or customers in specific cannot physically see the products when making purchases online. In addition, online shoppers need to pay first and wait for the products being delivered to them. Therefore, it is very important for online vendors to reduce uncertainties and build trusted relationships with consumers and customers. Some previous e-commerce researchers (e.g., Beatty et al., 2011) would use the terms, customer relations and consumer relations, interchangeably in their research reports. Beatty et al. (2011) conducted a meta-analysis to investigate trust issue in e-commerce. They described the process of a generic e-commerce transaction and argued that "This transaction begins when a customer navigates to the vendor's Web site. The consumer will then most likely traverse the vendor's Web site, and browse the vendor's online catalog. In the course of this navigation and browsing, he or she will select the items to purchase...The online transaction requires consumers to disclose a large amount of sensitive information to the vendor, placing themselves at significant risk" (Beatty, 2011, 14:1). Because of high level of uncertainties that online shoppers encounter in the shopping process, the success of e-commerce is affected by customer trust. They argued that "consumer trust is essential for the continuing development of e-commerce" (Beatty et al., 2011, 14:2). In Beatty et al.'s (2011) article which address the issue of consumer trust in e-commerce web site, customer and consumer are used interchangeably. It implies that customer relations and consumer relations are closely related concepts in the e-commerce environment. Actually, a customer is also a consumer. Therefore, both terms, customers and consumers, are used in this article. In this study, the researchers investigate why young consumers choose to shop online and why they become customers of specific online vendors.

Several previous studies (e.g., Burgess & Karanasios, 2008; Beatty, Relay, Dick, & Miller, 2011; Davis, Buchanan-Oliver, & Brodie, 1999; Hajli, 2014; Lee, Chu, & Chao, 2011; Wu & Huang, 2015) were conducted to explore customer relations in marketing, information management, and e-commerce fields. For example, Davis, Buchanan-Oliver, and Brodie (1999) conducted a focus group study to explore relationship marketing in e-commerce environment. They proposed a trust-based approach which defines the good retailer-customer relationships in the e-commerce environment. Based on this approach, on-line retailers need to keep the promises of their customers. "This promise is defined by the virtual image of interorganizational service brand held in the customer's mind and created by their interaction with that brand" (Davis et al., p. 328). The findings of their focus group interviews supported this research proposition. Davis et al. found that the relationship between on-line vendors and their customers can be defined by the discrepancy of two types of cognitive images, the expected virtual experience and actual real/service-process created experience. Higher levels of consumer satisfactions result when the actual real service experience exceeds the expected virtual experience. The high level of satisfaction can lead to the development of trust and loyalty (customer retention) to the on-line shopping service.

Internet banking is classified as one type of electronic commerce. Lee, Chu, and Chao (2011) conducted a quantitative study to investigate the relationships between service quality, relationship quality, and customer loyalty in Taiwanese Internet banks. They surveyed 444 young adults in Taiwan. They found that "crisis handling and relationships are negatively, and relationship quality and customer loyalty, and service quality and customer loyalty, positively correlated". Thus, Lee et al. (2011) suggested that Taiwanese Internet banks can increase customer loyalty by improving service quality and relationship quality. Specifically, they suggested that "if Internet users are unfamiliar with Internet banking face an uncertain and unsafe transaction model, the main determinant of customer loyalty for Internet banking providers is the beneficial interactive relationships in order to gain user trust" (p. 1138). Lee et al.'s (2011) research findings suggested that building interactive and trusting relationships with customers is the key for successful customer relationship management for Internet banks.

Due to the popularity of social media usage, many organizations now use social media to communicate and maintain relationships with customers. Thus, social media greatly impacts today's e-commerce practice. Hajli (2014) conducted a quantitative study to investigate the impact of social media on consumers and found that social media positively affect users' trust for a vendor. According to Hajli (2014), trust is the cornerstone in developing e-commerce. Specifically, trust is viewed in the context of transactions over the Internet through social network sites (SNSs) and online communities. Both trust in peers on the network and trust in the SNSs themselves are important. Hajli (2014) found that trust in SNSs has positive effects on perceived usefulness and individual's intention to buy in the e-commerce environment. He argued that "when potential consumers are encouraged to trust in vendors by their peers, and also trust in SNS itself, they are more likely to buy through social networking sites...Therefore, trust has a significant role in e-commerce by directly influencing intention to buy and indirectly through perceived usefulness" (p. 400). Hajli's (2014) research findings highlight social media impacts on trust building in e-commerce. Specifically, his research findings suggest that peer influence affect customers' trust on specific online vendors in the social environment.

Recently, Wu and Huang (2015) used a quantitative approach to explore the relationships between justice, performance confirmation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and customers' complaint intention in B2C e-commerce environment. Wu and Huang developed their research model by combing Justice Theory (Smith et al., 1999) and Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM) (Oliver, 1980; Davis et al., 1989). They collected online survey data and empirically tested the structural model. They found that distributive justice and interactional justice significantly contribute to customer satisfaction and complaint intentions. They also found that "in the ECM-based components, confirmation of expectations plays an important role in determining perceived usefulness and customer satisfaction...Specifically, confirmation of expectations positively affects perceived usefulness and further, both significantly influence customer satisfaction" (Wu & Huang, p. 76). In order words, meeting customers' expectations is an important factor which affects customer satisfactions and customer relations in the online environment.

Previous studies (e.g., Beatty et al., 2011; Davis et al., 1999; Hajli, 2014; Lee et al., 2011, Wu & Huang, 2015) provided some insights about customer relations in the e-commerce environment. However, the e-commerce market is continuously changing and growing. In addition, most of the studies were in the marketing, information management, and e-commerce fields. It will be noteworthy to explore ethical customer relations in the e-commerce environment from a public relations perspective, because ethical relationship is a current research issue in the PR field. The following section reviews literature about ethical public relationships in mediated environment.

Literature Review

Ethical Relationship

Ethical relationship is a well-discussed issue in the public relations field. For example, the conference theme for 2010 International Public Relation Research Conference (IPRRC) is ethical issues for public relations practice in a multicultural world. What is ethics? According to Newsom, Turk, and Kruckburg (2004), "ethics are founds on moral principles that are themselves grounded in effects" (p. 145). Heath and Coombs (2006) argued that "a central theme of today's public relations is that to be an effective communicator requires being an ethical communication" (p. 223). Heath and Coombs (2006) further discussed about the principles for ethical public relations practices, such as meeting public expectations, achieving openness as the basics of mutually beneficial relationships, building and protecting trust, and recognizing and aligning interests. "The best practice principle is to work toward mutually beneficial outcomes" (Heath & Coombs, 2006, p. 226). In summary, ethical organization-public relationships are mutually beneficial and trusting relationships between an organization and its publics, such as media, investors, and customers. Because of the advancement of technology and rapid growth of Internet, organizations need to establish ethical relationships with their publics in the mediated environment as well. Therefore, some public relations scholars (e.g., Kazoleas & Teigen, 2006; Kent & Taylor, 1998, 2002) addressed the issue about ethical public relationships in the mediated environment. The next section of this paper reviews literature on ethical public relations in mediated environment.

Ethical Public Relations in Mediated Environment

In the last two decades, the impacts of technology on public relations have attracted much scholarly attention. Kent and Taylor (1998; 2002) proposed a Dialogic Theory of Public Relations to describe ethical public relations in mediated environment. Kent and Taylor (1998) argued that dialogic communication is like the product of two-way symmetrical communication. The nature of dialogic communication emphasizes on a process of negotiated communication between organizations and publics, and thus, it is considered as an especially ethical way of conducting public relations. Kent and Taylor proposed five principles for the successful integration of dialogic public relations and the World Wide Web. These dialogic principles include the dialogical loop, the usefulness of information, the generation of return visit (RV), the intuitiveness /ease of the interface, and the rule of conservation of visitors.

Similar to Heath and Coombs' (2006) principles for ethical relationships, the purpose for dialogic communication is to create mutually beneficial and trusting relationships between organizations and their publics. Kent and Taylor (2002) further emphasized that the practice of ethical public relations is to have two-way dialogic communication rather than one-way monological or manipulative communication and proposed five features of dialogic communication. These five features include "mutuality, or the recognition of organization-public relationships; propinquity, or the temporality and spontaneity of interactions with publics; empathy, or the supportiveness and confirmation of public goals and interests; risk, or the willingness to interact with individuals and publics on their own term; and finally, commitment, or the extent to which an organization gives itself over to dialogue, interpretation, and understanding in its interactions with publics" (p. 25).

Kent and Taylor (2002) argued that organizations can build dialogic relationships with publics through interpersonal, mediated, and organizational channels. In terms of building mediated dialogical relationships, organizations should provide e-mail addresses, web addresses, and 1-800 telephone numbers to their publics in their corporate communication materials. Specifically, Kent and Taylor believe that the corporate Websites can function dialogically rather than monologically with publics by offering discussions, feedback loops, places to post comments, sources for organizational information, and postings of organizational members' contact information.

According to McAllister-Spooner (2009), Kent and Taylor's (1998; 2002) Dialogic Theory has served as a theoretical framework for many studies which investigate web-based public relationships in different types of organizations, such as nonprofit activist organizations, Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, congressional websites, and litigation public relations firms. For example, Park and Reber (2008) investigated how Fortune 500 corporations use their Web sites to build relationships with publics, such as media publics, consumers, investors, and internal audiences. The results of their content analysis study suggested that these organizations try to enhance trust, satisfaction, and openness in their public relationships by following dialogic principles, such as providing useful information on their Web sites. Park and Reber concluded that corporations need to utilize their Web sites effectively with an understanding of the capacity to promote dialogue in order to develop mutually beneficial relationships with multiple publics.

In addition to Kent and Taylor's (1998; 2002) Dialogic Theory, Kazoleas and Teigen's (2006) Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory also focuses on technology and public relations. This theory suggests that the marketing and media coverage of technological advances create unrealistic expectations about organizations' abilities to meet their stakeholders' needs. The unrealistic expectations can lead to crises or reputation damage if the organizations' performance cannot meet the stakeholders' expectations. Thus, organizations have to close the expectancy-reality gap by carefully monitoring their stakeholders' expectations about their products and services and communicate with their target audience through modern technology without creating unrealistic expectations.

Kazoleas and Teigen (2006) also analyzed how modern technology changed the characteristics of communication when discussing the technology-image gap. They argued that technology has created four major changes in business communication. First, business communication moves from few-to-many communication to many-to-many communication. With the help of modern technology, smaller organizations can possibly present themselves as bigger organizations in the mediated environment. Second, there is a shift from producer-driven communication to receiver-driven communication. As a result, consumers become more demanding and more difficult to be satisfied. Third, communication becomes more access-driven because internet users can retrieve specific information from the Web quickly. Organizations must provide the information which their stakeholders want in order to satisfy their information needs. Fourth and finally, organizations are able to personalize the communication through Web-based communication. Because of these technological changes, a new term, net relations, emerges. According to Kazoleas and Teigen, "Net relations is the management of relationships between an organization and all its relevant publics through the use of the Internet and the Web technology'' (p. 422). Net relations combines direct marketing and public relations to deliver messages to the target audience.

Both Kent and Taylor's (1998; 2002) Dialogic Theory of Public Relations and Kazoleas and Teigen's (2006) Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory focus on technological impacts on organization-public relationships. However, neither of them has been applied in previous studies which investigate ethical customer relations in e-commerce environment. In order to close this gap, the present study aims to explore customer relations in e-commerce environment and examine the applicability of existing public relations theories (Dialogic Theory of Public Relations and Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory) in e-commerce environment. A research question is proposed:

RQ: What are the keys for building ethical customer relations in electronic commerce environment?

Methods

Nine structured focus group interviews (with IRB approval) were conducted with 69 (31male; 38 female) young consumers (mean age=20) in the United States. Structured focus group interviews were conducted because standard interview questions were used by the researcher and the researcher's graduate assistant. No matter whether the researcher or the researcher's graduate assistant conducted the focus group interviews, they asked the participants the same questions by following the interview guide. Participants were college students in a mid-west public University in the United States. The university is located in a college town. College students were chosen as participants because previous literature (e.g., Huang, Jung, & Salvendy, 2006; Lightner, Yenisey, Ozok, & Salvendy 2002; Wu, 2013) suggested that college students are the most active Internet users and on-line shoppers. Convenience-sampling methods were used to recruit participants. The researchers' colleagues helped the researcher recruit participants by offering extra credits to their students. College students (young consumers) who are interested in on-line shopping signed up for participation. These nine structured focus group interviews lasted approximately from 1 hour to 1 hour and half. The researcher and one of her graduate research assistants conducted these nine focus group interviews. The group size ranges from 6 participants to 10 participants.

The researcher arranged the focus group interview questions by using the funneling concept. Krueger and Casey (2009) suggested researchers arrange focus group questions with care. According to Krueger and Casey (2009), "the most common procedure is to go from general to specific - that is begin with general review questions that lead to more specific questions of critical interests. "The funneling concept is to move the discussion from broad to narrow or from general to specific" (p. 57). By using the funneling sequence, the researcher can better engage with participants. The participants were asked the following questions. First, the participants were asked to talk about why they choose the on-line channel to shop. Second, the participants were asked to explain why they choose to shop from a specific on-line vendor. Third, the participants were asked to express their views about what on-line vendors can do to establish good and ethical relationship with new customers. Fourth, the participants were asked to tell the researcher about what on-line vendors can do to maintain good and ethical relationship with existing customers. Finally, the participants were asked to tell the researcher how they determine whether they trust an on-line vendor or not. The focus group interview process stops until the point of saturation. According to Krueger and Casey (2009), "saturation is a term used to describe the point where you have heard the range of ideas and aren't getting new information" (p.21). The research stopped conducting more interviews after she finished the 9 focus group interviews, because participants in different groups have expressed similar points of views and no new information could be gathered.

All of the focus group interviews were tape recorded with participants' agreement. Then, the researcher and the researcher's research assistant transcribed the results from the tape. All transcripts were read holistically by the researcher in order to identify themes and interesting quotes. Then the marked transcripts were read a second time in order to compare across individuals and groups. When the researcher analyzed the focus group interviews, she looked for patterns and themes across groups, as suggested by Krueger and Casey (2009). Based on the interviewing results, a number of interesting results were found. The following section of this paper summarizes the major findings for each question asked in the interview process and discusses the theoretical and practical implications from the results.

Findings and Discussion

Reasons for Shopping On-Line

The focus group interviews started from a more general question: "There are different channels for you to shop, such as Internet (on-line channel), catalog shopping, and shopping at stores. Why do you choose to shop on-line?" Several participants mentioned that they choose to shop on-line because it is convenient. For example, a male participant mentioned, "It's more convenient. You don't have to leave your house. Sometimes, some stores are not in your area. You need to shop on-line to get what you want". In another focus group session, a female participant said, "I am too lazy to go to the store. It's easier for me to shop on-line". Some other participants mentioned that they shop on-line for economic reasons. For example, a female participant mentioned that "I want to save the gas. Gas price is very high right now". A male participant said, "Sometimes, it is cheaper. There are on-line only deals". A female participant echoed and said, "I agree. They give you online coupons all the time".

In addition to convenience and economic reasons, several participants mentioned that having more varieties of products is the reason for them to shop on-line. A female participant said, "I shop at Victoria's Secret a lot. They only have underwear and sleepwear in their store. If you want to buy sweaters, dresses, or shoes from them, you need to shop on-line". Another female participant agreed and said that "Yes. There are broader varieties. Even for panties, some of them are only available on-line. I did not see them at Victoria's Secret's stores".

Another reason for the participants to shop on-line is that on-line vendors can customize the advertisements, products, and communication to meet each customer's needs. Specifically, they thought the social media advertisements and chat function are very helpful. A female participant said, "I saw advertisements on Facebook that is exactly what I want. I Googled for sunglasses few days ago. Then, what I Googled for immediately showed up on my Facebook page. I clicked it and bought a pair of sunglasses. I got what I need". Another female participant said, "there is chat function on the website. When I shopped for make-ups online, I can chat with somebody and ask questions. The chat function helps me to find the right product". These participants' answers support Kazoleas and Teigen's (2006) argument that organizations are able to personalize the communication with publics through Web-based communication. On-line shoppers may also become more demanding and expects personalized communication.

Reasons for Shopping from A Specific On-Line Vendor

The researcher also asked the participants about the reasons why they choose to shop from a specific on-line vendor. The findings suggest that there are various reasons for consumers to choose to shop from a specific on-line vendor. Several male participants mentioned that they choose to shop from eBay because they ask customers specific questions during the shopping process to make sure that customers order the right items. A male participant said, "I shop at eBay a lot. They asked me a lot questions when I was shopping. They want to make sure that I bought the right item and do not have to ship it back. Like shoes, there are different widths. I was asked what's the width I need". Another male participant followed and said, "They try to help you make the right decision at the first time by asking specific questions. But, they also let you know how to ship it back if you don't like it". Several other participations said they feel the online reviews at Amazon are helpful for them to make purchase decisions. For example, a female participant said, "I often buy things from Amazon.com. They sell a variety of products, pretty much everything... When I buy books there, I take a look at reviews. These reviews are helpful. Well, I can also review the product and post my comments there. It's good to know how other people think about the product". What these participants said seem to support Kent and Taylor's (1998; 2002) dialogic principles of web design because these young consumers expect two-way communication with the vendor and other customers when they are ordering products on-line. They prefer on-line vendors ask them questions about product details in order to make sure that they order the right items and would like to find useful information about how to return products if needed.

Some participants' answers seem to support the assumption of the Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory that making customers' expectation real is essential. Participants mentioned that they prefer to shop from a specific on-line vendor because the vendor makes their expectations real. For example, a male participant said:

They need to make my expectations real. It would be great that if they
let me know if there is a delay of delivery. I ordered a pair of gloves
from East Bay. Somebody called and told me that the product is a back
order. If I pay now, I may need to wait one or two weeks. He asked me
whether I want to wait or order something else. I told him I'll wait.
It's good. Some companies just let you wait forever.

A number of participants mentioned that they choose to continuously shop from a specific on-line vendor because they can get something which exceeds their expectations. A female participant said that "I got something extra which exceeds my expectations from Victoria's Secret. For example, I got panties as free gifts even I did not order them." Another female participant said, "I have good experiences, too. When I ordered something from Amazon, I got coupons for next purchase and free bookmarks. It's always good to get something exceeding my expectation". These participants' answers support Davis et al.' (1999) argument that higher levels of customer satisfaction result when on-line shoppers get services or products which exceed their expectations.

The combination of the Dialogic Theory and Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory explains parts of the reasons why the participants choose to shop from a specific on-line vendor. However, there are other reasons. First, getting a good price is important for young consumers. A male participant said, "I shop where they have sales". A female participant echoed and said, "Yes. I like coupons and discounts". Second, the vendor's reputation helps consumers to make the decision. A female participant said, "They need to have a good reputation and treat their customers right". A male participant said, "I think Best Buy has a very good reputation. I had good experiences shopping at their stores before. Since there is no Best Buy around, I shop at bestbuy.com". Another male participant said, "I Google when I need to buy something on-line. I choose to shop at the first few sites which pop up. The first few pop-ups are usually well-known and have better reputations". Third, peer influence is another reason for participants to choose from a specific site. A female participant said, "I shop from the site my friends recommend.". Another female participant in that group agreed and said, "I do, too. I trust my Facebook friends' recommendations. Before I decide to shop at a site, I may ask my Facebook friends for recommendations, especially when I need to buy something which is more expensive". These participants' answers suggest that peer influence affects consumers' online shopping behaviors. Specifically, some consumers would ask their social media friends for recommendations.

Customers' Expected Relationship Building Strategies

After asking few general questions, the participants were very engaged with the discussions about on-line shopping. Then, the researcher asked the participants a more specific question: "From a customer's point of view, what can an on-line vendor do to establish good and ethical relationships with new customers?" Interestingly, many participants mentioned that they expect the vendors give first time shoppers special discounts. A female participant said, "Bargains. Some sites give first time shoppers discounts. If there competitors do give me first time shopper's discounts, I would expect them give it to me". Another female participant echoed and said, "Yes. Both Amazon.com and Barnes Nobel sell books. I just buy from the cheaper one or the one gives me coupons or discounts". These participants' answers extend the Technology-Image Expectation Gap Theory. Kazoleas and Teigen's (2006) argued that corporations should carefully monitor their stakeholders' expectations about their products and services. The e-commerce environment is now very competitive. Customers can quickly gather product and price information on the web from different vendors. Therefore, on-line vendors may also need to know how their customers' expectations are affected by their competitors' special discounts and offers.

Several participants also mention that the vendor should make customers' expectations about product quality real by providing useful information. A male participant provided an interesting example and said,

They need to meet my expectations. I bought a diamond pendent for my
girlfriend on-line. It was a Valentine's Day gift. The diamond looked
big and glorious on the site. But, when I got it, it was tiny, little.
Obviously, they enlarged it. I thought it's unethical to give customers
false expectations. It would be better if they told me that the picture
is enlarged.

A female participant agreed and said, "Sometimes, pictures are misleading. They need to provide detailed product information, too. There are different materials for clothing, like cotton, wool. They need to provide such information". These participants' answers support Kent and Taylor's (1998) Dialogic Theory that Websites should provide useful information to publics. Specifically, on-line shoppers cannot personally see the products or physically touch the products when they shop on-line, they need accurate information and detailed descriptions about the products.

Some participants expect the on-line vendor give them good first impression in the very beginning. A female participant said, "They need to send me the right product the first time. I don't want to pay the postage and waste my time and energy to send the wrong product back".

Then, the researcher asked the participants another question: "What can an on-line vendor do to maintain ethical relationships with existing customers?" Some participants' answers were similar to the previous questions. For example, a female participant said, "The same. They need to meet my expectations. Give me a good price, a good product, and ship the item to me on time. It is not broken. It does not take too long". Some participants stated the importance of confirmation from the vendor. A female participant said,

They need to send me confirmations through email after I place an
order. I want a confirmation for each order I placed on-line. I want to
know the order went through and I should be able to get the items soon.
I can track the shipment after receiving the confirmation.

Some participants mentioned the importance of continued communication between vendors and customers. For example, a male participant said, "Continuously give me good deals. They can continuously send me product information and coupons through emails. We are cheap. We don't want to pay extra". Another male participant said, "They can keep sending me coupons from time to time, like birthday discounts". Similarly, a female participant said, "Yes. They can email me the on-line coupons and sales information". A male participant said, "I like product recommendations. Amazon recommends products to me all the time. They send me emails. If I like the recommendation, I'll buy".

Interestingly, some participants have opposite views about continued communication from on-line vendors. For example, a female participant said, "They should give me the choice to remove myself from their email list. I suffered from information overload every day. I already have too many emails". Another female participant in that group agreed and said,

I hate junk mails. I got a bunch of junk mails every day. Once you buy
something from a site, they continuously send you junk mails almost
every day and saying so and so discount will end in the next 3 days or
next 2 days. It's annoying. My boyfriend has a separate account for
on-line shopping. Anyway, I don't want to be bothered, either.

It seems that some participants would prefer continued communication. However, not everybody does. Therefore, on-line vendors should respect consumers' choice to be communicated or not. This finding supports Kent and Taylor's (2002) argument that the dialogic communication system should have rules governing the opportunity for beginning, maintaining, and ending interactions. If consumers expect and welcome continued communication, on-line vendors can continuously communicate with them. If consumers prefer NOT to be communicated after a purchase is done, on-line vendors should also respect their choice and end the continued communication.

Many participants also mentioned the importance of dialogic communication if there are problems with the product. A female participant said,

They need to make sure that clothes and shoes fit. If they don't fit,
they have to tell me how to return or exchange in a timely fashion. You
cannot try the clothes on when you shop on-line. If the size does not
fit, I need to contact them. I have called a 1-800 number with nobody
answering it. I will never shop at that site again.

Another female participant seemed to have a more positive experience and said, "They need to answer emails in a timely manner. Let me give you an example. I accidentally ordered a jacket twice. I don't need two. I emailed the site. They replied my email and canceled the second order. I feel good about that site". Another female participant's answer also support the importance of dialogic communication:

I think the chat function helps. I want to chat with the customer
service representative when I shop on-line. It's like the on-line
discussion when we take on-line courses. They reply your email
immediately if you have questions. It's easier than calling them. Some
sites have the chat function. Some sites don't. I prefer to shop at the
site with the chat function.

A male participant said, "Send me emails if there is a delay of delivery. I don't have much patience. If I expect to get something in the next 3 days, I don't want to wait for 1 week for something I ordered".

The findings suggest that the combination of Kazoleas and Teigen's (2006) Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory and Kent and Taylor's (1998; 2002) Dialogic Theory of Public Relations helps to explain young consumers' expected relationship building/maintaining strategies in e-commerce environment. On-line vendors need to make customers' expectations about products and delivery time real and give consumers a very good first impression. On-line vendors also need to follow the dialogic principles of Web site design and provide consumers two-way communication channels. If there are problems of the products, consumers know how to contact the vendor and solve the problem. On-line shopping is different from on-site shopping because consumers cannot physically touch the product or try the product on. It is possible that consumers will need to return or exchange the clothing type of products if the size does not fit. Therefore, on-line vendors should provide multiple customer support channels, such as 1800 customer service phone numbers, customer support email address, and chat function in their social media sites, to their consumers. They also need to make sure that they actually respond to their consumers in a timely manner.

Factors Affecting On-Line Trust

By the end of the focus group interview, the researcher asked the participants a question regarding on-line trust: "How do you determine whether you trust an on-line vendor or not"? The most popular answer for this question is related to the security issues. For example, a male participant said, "I'll trust a site if they have a security lock that protects from identity theft. It's a little icon at the bottom of the right hand corner". A female participant agreed and said, "They have to make sure that the confidentiality with my account is closely guarded. Nobody wants their account information out there for any jerk to use". Another female participant said, "Yes. They need to maintain their privacy policy. Confidentiality helps, especially with credit card information".

In addition to the security issue, some participants mentioned the importance of other people's opinions. A male participant said, "I look at reviews and ratings". A female participant agreed and said, "Yes. Other customers can rate the site and the product. I will take a look at their comments". Another female participant said, "Sometimes, you listen to a friend who is familiar with a site". These participants' answers suggested that peer influence do affect consumer trust in the e-commerce environment. This finding supports Hajli's (2014) argument that peer influence affects consumers' trust toward online vendors in the social commerce environment. Few participants mention the importance of quality of website design. For example, a female participant said,

The design of the website must be professional and organized. I will
not shop from a poorly organized site because it looks untrustworthy. I
feel I may not get the proper item I ordered. The shipment may be late
or never come. I may even have problems returning the product if I need
to exchange size or color. Anyway, the site must be organized and
provide me good information about the company and the products.

Another female participant agreed and said, "I think so, too. I want to find the items I want or something similar as soon as possible. I don't want to shop from a disorganized site. I can't find something I want if the site is disorganized". These participant's answers seem to support Kent and Taylor's (1998) dialogic principles of website design, such as ease of interface and usefulness of information.

Conclusion

By collecting data from focus group interviews, this study has explored ethical customer relations in e-commerce environment. Organizations communicate with a variety of publics, such as government officials, media, investors, and customers. Customer relations is one type of organization-public relationships. Therefore, it would be noteworthy to know whether the general technology and public relations theories can be applied to specific customer relations in the e-commerce environment. The findings of this study suggested that Kent and Taylor's (1998; 2002) Dialogic Theory of Public Relations and Kazoleas and Teigen's (2006) Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory can be applied to explain ethical customer relations in e-commerce environment. The findings of this study support the applicability of existing public relations theories which focus on technology and public relationships.

In addition to the theoretical contributions, there are also practical implications from this study. The results of this study can help on-line vendors understand their customers' expectations about their website design, their products, and their services. With better understanding about customers' expectations, online vendors can establish and maintain mutually beneficial and trusting relationships with customers. As Heath and Coombs (2006) suggested, ethical relationships are mutually beneficial and trusting relationships. The researcher would like to make some suggestions to the online vendors. First, the researcher would suggest on-line vendors provide accurate and detailed product information on their websites, in order to make customers' expectations about product quality real. Second, the researcher would recommend the online vendors to provide places for their customers to rate their products and write product reviews in their websites and social media sites. By doing so, customers can know more about product details not only from the online vendors, but also from other customers. Apparently, today's e-commerce becomes social commerce (Hajli, 2014). Third, on-line vendors should incorporate dialogic principles of Website design and allow customers to communicate with them through multiple channels if customers have questions. Many online customers expect quick responses from online vendors through multiple channels, such as phones, emails, and chat function in online vendors' website.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Studies

Although there are a number of theoretical and practical contributions, this study has limitations. The combination of the Dialogic Theory (Kent & Taylor, 1998; 2002) and Technology-Image Expectancy Gap Theory (Kazoleas and Teigen, 2006) helps to explain customers' expected relationship building strategies from on-line vendors. However, when participants were asked about on-line trust, many of them mentioned the privacy and security issues. The privacy and security issues have not been fully addressed by these two existing public relations theories. Although Kent and Taylor (2002) identified risk as one of the five features of dialogic communication, they did not provide specific strategies for reducing risk and increasing trust. Future studies may further investigate such issues which may greatly affect consumer trust in e-commerce environment. New theories may be developed to address the security and trust issues in mediated environment.

This exploratory study serves as the first step to understand customer relations in e-commerce environment based on young consumers' perspective in the United States. However, consumers from other generations or different cultures may have different points of view. Future studies may interview consumers from different demographic groups in different cultures, and compare the findings with the present study. The electronic commerce market is rapidly growing in different parts of the world. Building ethical customer relations in e-commerce environment will continuously be an important research issue.

* An earlier version of this paper was presented at International Public Relations Research Annual Conference, Miami, FL. The researcher thanks Dr. Maureen Taylor, University of Tennessee, for her suggestions on an earlier version and Meghan Mclaughlin for her assistance of transcribing the focus group interviews. This project was sponsored by Wayne Thompson Distinguished Professorship Grant, Western Illinois University.

Correspondence to:

Ming-Yi Wu, Ph.D.

Faculty, Northeastern University

360 Huntington Street

Boston, MA 02115

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

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(7/1/2018)

Ming-Yi Wu

Northeastern University, USA