Jan 20 1999: A qualitative study conducted by Cheskin Research and Studio Archetype/Sapient Corp looked at what constitutes a trustworthy web site for the online consumer.   The study found that strong branding and an easily navigable web site were essential starting points in gaining the trust of an online consumer. Further, e-commerce consumers expected a professional web site design and technical perfection, including no broken links and images, as well as efficient and secure transactions.   New consumers identified the Web as a chaotic environment with the result that they were wary of a web sites control over their personal information and are slow to commit their details. Credit card symbols did not automatically communicate trustworthiness to online shoppers. Further, experienced users were also more likely to place their confidence in specific Internet security seals, and were more concerned about security issues in general.   The findings are based on a four-part qualitative study. The first part consisted of a questionnaire distributed to 138 consumers. This was followed by an audit of 60 e-commerce web sites. The third part constituted a bulletin board discussion with web site designers, marketers and product developers. In the final part of the study, 315 consumers were asked to evaluate eight e-commerce web sites.