Online store image: conceptual foundations and empirical measurement

Perceptions regarding an online store, developed after a brief study of the website, can significantly influence somebody’s attitude towards purchasing at that store. These perceptions are collectively characterised as an “online store image.” Our research developed reliable and valid measures for the components of an online store image, and examined the relationships of these components to attitudes and intentions to purchase online. Conceptually, the paper relied on the relatively established literature on “traditional” store image and technology acceptance research. Empirically, we focused on the store images of two online bookstores.Following standard processes for instrument development, we conducted two rounds of data collection (pilot sample, n=61; main sample, n=312) to assess reliability and validity. The paper presents multiple-item measurements for components of a store image: online store usefulness, enjoyment, ease of use, store style, familiarity, trustworthiness, and settlement performance. The components were regressed on attitudes and intentions towards purchasing at the online store, revealing significant, direct influences from usefulness, enjoyment, trustworthiness and settlement performance.     

Re-examining the influence of trust on online repeat purchase intention: The moderating role of habit and its antecedents

Customer loyalty or repeat purchasing is critical for the survival and success of any store. By focusing on online stores, this study investigates the moderating role of habit on the relationship between trust and repeat purchase intention. Prior research on online behavior continuance models perceives usefulness, trust, satisfaction, and perceived value as the major determinants of continued usage or loyalty, overlooking the important role of habit. We define habit in the context of online shopping as the extent to which buyers tend to shop online automatically without thinking. Building on recent research on the continued usage of IS and repeat purchasing, we develop a model suggesting that habit acts as a moderator between trust and repeat purchase intention, while familiarity, value and satisfaction are the three antecedents of habit. Data collected from 454 customers of the Yahoo!Kimo shopping mall provide strong support for the research model. The results indicate that a higher level of habit reduces the effect of trust on repeat purchase intention. The data also show that value, satisfaction, and familiarity are important to habit formation and thus relevant within the context of online repeat purchasing. The implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Online purchase intentions: A multi-channel store image perspective

The advantages of the bricks-and-clicks retail format in the battle for the online customer has been widely discussed but empirical research on it has been limited. We applied a multi-channel store image perspective to assess its influence on online purchase intentions. Drawing on a sample of 630 customers of a large music retail store in the Netherlands, the results demonstrated that offline and online store perceptions directly influenced online purchase intention. In addition, our findings confirmed that offline store impressions were used as references for their online store counterparts. Synergy and reference effects are discussed.     

How does justice matter in online retailers’ reputation and purchase intentions: an empirical study of China

In recent years, online shopping has been proliferated around the world. Online retailers’ reputation and purchase intentions are critical for survival and profitability of any online store. Thus, this study proposes a research framework to examine the perceived justice effects on customers purchase intention and online retailers’ reputation. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modelling technique was used to test the research model. The hypothesised model was validated empirically using data collected from 383 online shopping customers in China. The results indicated that perceived procedural, distributive and interactional justice components were strong predictors of customers purchase intention and online retailers’ reputation while online retailers’ reputation had significant effects on purchase intentions. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are also presented in the paper.     

Comparing the effects of website quality on customer initial purchase and continued purchase at e-commerce websites

To succeed in the highly competitive e-commerce environment, it is vital to understand the impact of website quality in enhancing customer conversion and retention. Although numerous contingent website attributes have been identified in the extant website quality studies, there is no unified framework to classify these attributes and no comparison done between customer conversion and retention according to the different website quality attributes and their varying impact. This study adopts the model of Information Systems (IS) success by DeLone and McLean to provide a parsimonious and unified view of website quality, and compares the impact of website quality on intention of initial purchase with that on intention of continued purchase. With the proposed framework, we seek to understand how a company can increase customer conversion and/or retention. Our findings demonstrate the strength of our framework in explaining the impact of website quality on intention to purchase on the Web, and that website quality constructs exert different impact on intention of initial purchase and intention of continued purchase. The results suggest that an online company should focus on system quality to increase customer conversion, and on service quality for customer retention.     

Building presence in an online shopping website: the role of website quality

This study explores how sellers’ website quality influences buyers’ perceived presence, which in turn affects website identification and purchase intention. The results of a conceptual model, with data collected from TaoBao, demonstrate that information and service quality are positively related to social presence, and system and service quality are positively related to telepresence. Furthermore, information and service quality increase website identification, but system quality does not. Finally, social presence positively affects website identification and purchase intention, while telepresence only positively affects website identification. These results bridge the research gap about the formation of presence in an online shopping context.     

Understanding of website usability: Specifying and measuring constructs and their relationships

Developing a usable website is pivotal for e-business success. Researchers have devoted effort to develop metrics, guidelines and theories of website usability, yet there still is a lack of consensus on the multifaceted dimensions of website usability and lack of investigation of the nomological networks among website usability constructs. This study first investigated the common dimensions of website usability by integrating the findings of previous studies and a focus group study with website usability experts. Instruments to measure the constructs were developed and empirically validated. Then nomological networks between website usability constructs and between those constructs and online purchase intention and purchase were examined. Three field studies including two questionnaire surveys and a causal mapping analysis were conducted. The research identified ten website usability constructs with strong psychometric properties. A number of nomological networks between usability constructs were discovered, contributing to identification of sources of variances of purchase intention and purchase behavior. Findings of this study are expected to provide useful insights for practitioners to develop more usable websites and for researchers to better assess the effect of website usability on online customer behavior.     

The impact of website quality on customer satisfaction and purchase intention: perceived playfulness and perceived flow as mediators

The purposes of this study are to examine whether perceived playfulness and perceived flow would mediate the relationships among website quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention, as well as to assess the degree of reciprocity between perceived playfulness and perceived flow in an online travel agency context. This study suggested a research framework for testing the relationships among the constructs based on the stimulus-organism-response framework. In addition, this study developed a non-recursive model. After validating the measurement scales, empirical analyses were conducted using structural equation modelling. The findings confirm that website quality affects customers’ perceived playfulness and perceived flow, and in turn, would influence their satisfaction and purchase intention. Notably, this study finds that the service quality is more important than information and system quality in influencing customer satisfaction and purchase intention. Furthermore, the study reveals that the relationship between perceived playfulness and perceived flow is reciprocal. Based on the findings, the implications are discussed in the paper and directions for future research are also highlighted.     

From virtual community members to C2C e-commerce buyers: Trust in virtual communities and its effect on consumers’ purchase intention

In China, major C2C websites are focusing on increasing their customer bases by converting members of their virtual communities (VCs) into C2C buyers and sellers. This phenomenon is called e-commerce based on social networks (ENS). The current research analyzes what factors affect trust building among VC members and how this trust influences the trust in the C2C website or vendor. We propose and empirically test a model of trust in VCs based on the trust formation mechanism. Using data collected from Taobao Virtual Community, we show that familiarity, perceived similarity, structural assurance, and trust propensity are important antecedents to trust in members in VCs. Analyses of the two kinds of trust show that trust in members’ ability significantly affects three dimensions of trust in the vendor/website in terms of ability, integrity, and benevolence. In addition, trust in members’ integrity and benevolence stimulates the purchase intention and trust in the vendor/website’s ability positively affects the intention to get information and the purchase intention.     

Understanding customers' repeat purchase intentions in B2C e‐commerce: the roles of utilitarian value,hedonic value and perceived risk

Customer loyalty or repeat purchasing is critical for the survival and success of any store. By focusing on online stores, this study investigates the repeat purchase intention of experienced online buyers based on means‐end chain theory and prospect theory. In the research model, both utilitarian value and hedonic value are hypothesised to affect repeat purchase intention positively. Perceived risk is hypothesised to affect repeat purchase intention negatively and moderate the effects of utilitarian and hedonic values on repeat purchase intention. Utilitarian value is proposed as a formative second‐order construct formed by product offerings, product information, monetary savings and convenience. Hedonic value is also proposed as a formative second‐order construct formed by the six hedonic benefits that have been identified in prior research. Data collected from 782 Yahoo!Kimo customers provide strong support for the research model. The results indicate that both the utilitarian value and hedonic value are positively associated with buyers' repeat purchase intention. A higher level of perceived risk reduces the effect of utilitarian value and increases the effect of hedonic value on repeat purchase intention. Implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Perceived information transparency in B2C e-commerce: An empirical investigation

Consumers abandon their online purchases at an e-commerce website partly due to the lack of information transparency of the website. We identify the antecedents of consumers’ perceived information transparency of an e-commerce website and its effects on consumers’ online purchase intention. We collected data through a scenario-based survey conducted in a laboratory setting. We found that (1) product transparency, vendor transparency, and transaction transparency significantly influence perceived information transparency; (2) perceived information transparency significantly increases consumers’ online purchase intention; and (3) perceived risk partially mediates the effects of perceived information transparency on purchase intention.     

The atmospheric factors of online storefront environment design: An empirical experiment in Taiwan

The purpose of our study was to identify the effect of atmospheric factors such as music and color on participants’ emotional responses and subsequent shopping behavior in an online store setting. In this study, a laboratory experiment was conducted to test our hypotheses. The experiment was a 2 (music: fast/slow) × 2 (color: warm/cool) between-subjects factorial design with one control group. The results indicated that both music and color factors had a significant effect on participants’ emotional response, which in turn influenced their intention to purchase. Specifically, participants felt more aroused and experienced greater pleasure when they were exposed to fast-tempo music and a warm color website than those people who experienced slow-tempo music and cool colors. In addition, both pleasure and arousal emotions were significant predictors of approach–avoidance intention. We expected that a well-designed website with adequate music and color attributes would create a desired environment and thus entice and retain target customers. Our findings should help in deciding on ambient factors in online website design. Although studies on atmospheric effects in traditional stores have been abundant, knowledge of their effect in the online retail context has been sparse.     

The online framing effect: the moderating role of warning,brand familiarity,and product type

This study examines the framing effect on online consumer purchase intention. Three framing effect moderators—warning type (text-based/picture-based), brand familiarity (familiar/unfamiliar), and product type (utilitarian/hedonic)—were considered. The results demonstrated that a positive frame message could create more favorable preferences toward the product than a negative frame message could. Further, consumers with text-based warnings who received positive framing messages had higher purchase intentions toward the target product than did those receiving negative framing messages. However, the online framing effect was not significant for consumers receiving picture-based warnings. Moreover, the online framing effect was significant for consumers familiar with the brand. Finally, positive messages resulted in higher purchase intention for hedonic rather than utilitarian products. This study further examined gender differences in framing effects and found women exhibited greater framing effects than men under the negative frame. The findings provide guidance for designing appropriate product strategy to induce online consumer purchase intentions that favor online retailers.     

Understanding online purchase intentions: contributions from technology and trust perspectives

This paper explores factors that influence consumer's intentions to purchase online at an electronic commerce website. Specifically, we investigate online purchase intention using two different perspectives: a technology-oriented perspective and a trust-oriented perspective. We summarise and review the antecedents of online purchase intention that have been developed within these two perspectives. An empirical study in which the contributions of both perspectives are investigated is reported. We study the perceptions of 228 potential online shoppers regarding trust and technology and their attitudes and intentions to shop online at particular websites. In terms of relative contributions, we found that the trust-antecedent ‘perceived risk’ and the technology-antecedent ‘perceived ease-of-use’ directly influenced the attitude towards purchasing online.     

The Relative Importance of Website Design Quality and Service Quality in Determining Consumers’ Online Repurchase Behavior

Abstract

Previous studies have found that website design quality is one main factor affecting consumers' initial online purchase behavior. For consumers' repurchase behavior, in addition to website design quality, service quality is another important factor. Which factor is more important in determining consumers' repurchase intention? Our results show that, compared with website design quality, service quality has significantly stronger effects on consumers' trust and satisfaction, both of which lead to their repurchase intention.     

Interplay between trust,information privacy concerns and behavioural intention of users on online social networks

Trust and privacy features of websites have evolved as an important concern for any businesses or interactions, particularly in online networks. The study investigates the relationship between trust, privacy concerns and behavioural intention of users on the social network. The behavioural intention of users on the online social network (OSN) is captured by intention to disclose information and intention to interact with others in OSN. The study was conducted on a sample of 457 active users from one of the major social networking website, Facebook. Partial least squares based structural equation modelling was used for analysing the results. The findings of the study reveal that intention to disclose information mediates the relationship between trust in the website and the intention to interact with others. Another important finding of the study indicates that prior positive experience with the website significantly impacts the trust in website, and the trust in website also plays a crucial role while determining the information privacy concerns in the OSN.     

Designing usable online stores: A landscape preference perspective

Developing an explanatory theoretical model of website usability is pivotal for understanding usable website design. Such a model would explain and help predict the effects of website usability on online purchases, but few studies have been devoted to such model development. As an exploratory effort, we adopted and extended Kaplan's landscape preference model by including factors of legibility, coherence, variety, and mystery, and examined their effect on cognitive and affective appraisals and their impact on purchase intention. A field survey with 495 online customers using two different categories of websites was conducted to validate the research model. A multi-group analysis with gender and age was performed to cross-validate it. Our findings demonstrated that the proposed model explained a large amount of the variance of purchase intention, invariant across different subgroups. Key implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

An empirical study on consumer first purchase intention in online shopping: integrating initial trust and TAM

To understand the first purchase mechanism in online shopping, this study established an integrated model of initial trust and TAM. According to the analysis results, initial trust beliefs were significantly influenced by initial trust bases such as company reputation, structural assurance, and trusting stance, and initial trust beliefs indirectly influenced the first purchase intention through consumer attitude. In TAM constructs, only perceived usefulness directly influenced the usage attitude of online shopping systems, then indirectly influenced the first purchase intention. These results imply that online consumers consider perceived ease of use as a basic requirement for system design. It was also found that there is a time cushion between the time of first purchase and the time of belief formation. On the whole, these results reinforced the theory that a relationship between belief (trust and perceived usefulness) and intention was better explained when it was mediated by attitude.     

The impact of online real-time interactivity on patronage intention: The use of avatars

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of online real-time interactivity on the desire of users to visit and to purchase products/services from the company in the future. Online real-time interactivity has been increased by the use of avatars. We also investigated the antecedents of online real-time interactivity by focusing on trust, emotional appeal, and social presence. As far as the methodology is concerned, we designated companies using avatars on their websites. We asked respondents to visit these websites and then fill in our questionnaire. We received 945 questionnaires back. As we had several latent variables, we used partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation modeling method. The results show that online real-time interactivity significantly increases the patronage intention. The results also illustrate the impact of the degree of trust and the emotional appeal on user's perception about the online real-time interactivity. Nevertheless, the impact of the emotional appeal is less relevant compared to the degree of trust. Moreover, the degree of trust in the information found on the website explains user's emotional appeal during the conversation. Finally, avatar's social presence has a significant impact on trust and emotional appeal. Our results have immediate and direct implications for avatars' developers and companies who want to invest in improving the real-time interactivity of their website.     

Exploring the cognitive and affective bases of online purchase intentions: a hierarchical test across product types

Whereas there is ample e-commerce research on how online store beliefs and consumer online affective states may influence online purchase intentions, no research so far has examined whether the hierarchy of effects between these concepts differs across product types. In this study, we fill this research gap by examining the explanatory power of the think-feel-do hierarchy versus the feel-think-do hierarchy in predicting online purchase intentions towards search versus experience products and high involvement versus low involvement products. Hypotheses are formulated and tested using a quasi-field experiment (n = 198) design. The results show the robustness of the think-feel-do hierarchy for three out of four product types (experience, low involvement, high involvement). Remarkably, the results also demonstrate that the formation of online purchase intentions for search products may occur via a more experiential form of online purchase decision-making. Implications of our findings for theory and online store practitioners are discussed.