Received April 14, 2017, accepted June 21, 2017, date of publication June 26, 2017, date of current version July 24, 2017. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2017.2720118 Investigation of the Correlation Between Trust and Reputation in B2C e-Commerce Using Alexa Ranking ISSA NAJAFI 1 , MOHSEN KAMYAR 2 , ALI KAMYAR 2 , AND MAHMOUDREZA TAHMASSEBPOUR 3 , (Senior Member, IEEE) 1 Department of Computer Engineering, Quchan University of Advanced Technology, Mashhad 9477167335, Iran 2 Department of Computer Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad 9477948974, Iran 3 Department of Computer and Information Technology Engineering, Islamic Azad University-North Tehran Branch, Tehran 1969633651, Iran Corresponding author: Mahmoudreza Tahmassebpour (mahmoudtahmasebpour@ieee.org) ABSTRACT As a general approach to gain electronic trust in business-to-consumer e-commerce, the cus- tomers select valid brands based on the authenticity of the Web and regulatory mechanisms in order to facilitate purchase decision process. This approach is not suitable for purchase from small companies without brands active in e-commerce. To purchase from these companies, we should follow other e-trust approaches. One of the approaches applied in information literate is to refer to valid ranking sites like Alexa rank. Here, we have evaluated the correlation between Alexa rank and the formal measures of trust in electronic space, and have suggested a new method for the e-trust that is based on an electronic reputation built on the existing ranking results given by the ranking sites. To this end, we selected 100 store Websites based on regulatory lists, and the formal criteria of trust for them were measured along with the correlation of these criteria with Alexa rank. INDEX TERMS Trust, reputation, correlation, B2C E-Commerce, Alexa rank. I. INTRODUCTION The increasing volume of online trade necessitates calculat- ing trust. Unlike face-to-face trades, electronic trades suf- fer from lack of common notions of trust. This leads to various types of frauds in this field. In face-to-face trades, the customer can physically evaluate any object, and also have a complete profile about the selected store. In customer- business trade, as the customer has no access to the physical location of the business, he cannot be sure that such busi- ness really exists. In different environments, it is attempted to establish some regulatory procedures to avoid fraud. For example, in Iran, the sign of e-trust affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade is used to establish the e-trust in a website. This sign of e-trust is granted to a business after the location of the store is verified, the security standards for the target website are surveyed along with the judicial records of the business owner, and the purchase and commodity return procedures are evaluated. This process has some drawbacks like: • Some of the companies that receive the e-trust sign provide services to smaller companies that do not have the sign, taking the risk of fraud; these big companies allow small businesses to use their payment services, and in return, receive a part of the transaction price. • In an open global space, non-local businesses cannot be forced to observe the local regulatory rules. • Such an approach of establishing the e-trust only takes care of the fraud involved in the business; however, the dissatisfaction is mostly due to the dif- ference between the customer expectation and the pur- chased products. In other words, after confidence in non-fraudulence of the business, the main step to an electronic purchase is the assurance about the quality of the product. Therefore, in general, only very famous brands can enjoy success in electronic trades. Therefore, mechanisms like the e-trust sign in Iran cannot create appropriate conditions for all businesses. To put it another way, the competition resulted from the significant fame of big brands in the market imposes big challenges to small businesses. The main advantage of the internet is the unlimited access to information, which can create an equal chance for all businesses, though the lack of trust in small businesses still makes it difficult to create an equal- opportunity competition. 12286 2169-3536  2017 IEEE. Translations and content mining are permitted for academic research only. Personal use is also permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information. VOLUME 5, 2017