Situational variables in online versus offline channel choice

Since the advent and rapid diffusion of the Internet, the subject of consumer channel choice has attracted a large amount of research, mainly focused on the influence of channel, consumer and product category characteristics as its drivers. The interaction between channel choice and the purchase situation has been largely ignored, however. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap by identifying the key purchase situation variables and conducting an experiment to assess their impact on the choice between the traditional retail outlet and the online store. The results show that the key determinants of channel choice relate to time and distance. Distance-to-store and time pressures are among the factors affecting the probability of online purchase. Using a conceptual framework to explore differences in the impact of situational variables across product categories (high/low involvement, search/experience good), we show that distance-to-store has more influence on the likelihood of online purchase in situations involving search goods, while social variables are found to play a role only in the context of high-involvement goods.     

Between Flexibility and Automation: An Evaluation of Web Technology from a Business Process Perspective

This study proposed and tested a model of consumer online buying behavior. The model posits that consumer online buying behavior is affected by demographics, channel knowledge, perceived channel utilities, and shopping orientations. Data were collected by a research company using an online survey of 999 U.S. Internet users, and were cross-validated with other similar national surveys before being used to test the model. Findings of the study indicated that education, convenience orientation, experience orientation, channel knowledge, perceived distribution utility, and perceived accessibility are robust predictors of online buying status (frequent online buyer, occasional online buyer, or non-online buyer) of Internet users. Implications of the findings and directions for future research were discussed.     

Energizing business transactions in virtual worlds: an empirical study of consumers’ purchasing behaviors

Virtual marketplaces for products and services have become major profit sources in virtual worlds (VWs). The large quantity and growth of virtual product transactions and their platform providers’ profits have made it critical to understand consumer purchasing behavior in VWs. However, as open-ended VWs such as Second Life have environments that differ from those of other online communities, the underlying mechanisms of consumers’ e-commerce behavior may not explain their VW behavior. Therefore, this study examines consumers’ VW behavior by considering three categories of factors influencing their purchasing behavior: the platform context (i.e., technical characteristics such as interactivity and vividness and social characteristics such as involvement), product context (i.e., product value), and virtual experience (i.e., flow and satisfaction). This study examines how these factors affect consumers when they purchase virtual products. Its results highlight the importance of flow experience in consumers’ VW behavior. Interactivity, vividness, and involvement are found to affect consumers’ virtual experience—flow, and involvement exhibits a significantly stronger influence on flow. Flow and involvement are found to affect product value, and flow exerts a stronger influence than involvement on product value. Flow and product value directly impact consumers’ willingness to purchase, whereas satisfaction with the virtual world experience, which is significantly affected by flow, is not associated with willingness to purchase. The results further indicate that product value is more influential on willingness to purchase than is flow. After describing the study’s contributions to both research and practice, I conclude the paper by presenting avenues for future research.     

Understanding multi-channel research shoppers: an analysis of Internet and physical channels

The purpose of this study is to analyze how channel characteristics influence the channel attitudes of multi-channel research shoppers. In addition, the study also considers consumers’ complex shopping behaviors that involve using one channel for search and another for purchase simultaneously. Survey data were collected from 191 consumers with recent (i.e., in the last 3 months) multi-channel experiences. Qualified respondents had either searched in physical retail stores and purchased on the Internet or searched on the Internet and subsequently purchased in physical retail stores. The research hypotheses were examined using multiple regression analysis. The results show that customer perceptions of channel characteristics drive channel choice attitudes. Importantly, we find the significance of channel characteristics varies between the Internet and the physical channel. The research findings deepen our understanding of shopping behaviors in the multi-channel context. Practitioners may use the findings to manage the characteristics of the complementary channels while also designing marketing programs to create positive consumer attitudes toward search and purchase.     

Proposing the online community self-disclosure model: the case of working professionals in France and the U.K. who use online communities

The global use of online communities has exploded to involve hundreds of millions of users. Despite the tremendous social impact and business opportunities afforded by these communities, little information systems (IS) research has addressed them – especially in a cross-cultural context. Our research proposes an online community self-disclosure model, tested in a cross-cultural setting using data provided by French and British working professionals. Our model is based on social exchange theory (SET) and social penetration theory (SPT), as well as on cross-cultural theory related to individualism-collectivism. SET explains that individuals engage in relationships when the perceived costs associated with the relationship are less than the expected benefits. SPT extends SET to explain that individuals participate in self-disclosure to foster relationships – reciprocation is the primary benefit of self-disclosure, whereas risk is the foundational cost of self-disclosure. Our study established several important findings: positive social influence to use an online community increases online community self-disclosure; reciprocity increases self-disclosure; online community trust increases self-disclosure; and privacy risk beliefs decrease self-disclosure. Meanwhile, a tendency toward collectivism increases self-disclosure. We further found that French participants had higher scores on horizontal individualism than British participants. Several other findings and their implications for practice are also discussed.     

Service co-creation in social media: An extension of the theory of planned behavior

Social media have become a major channel through which consumers interact with firms and other consumers. This paper examines the factors that drive consumers to co-create in social media and proposes a theoretical model that extends the theory of planned behavior to include perceived usefulness as a key antecedent of consumer attitudes toward co-creation in social media. The model was tested using responses from 743 Chinese consumers. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that perceived usefulness was an antecedent of consumer attitudes toward co-creation in social media. The relationship between perceived usefulness and customer attitudes toward co-creation was moderated by the level of consumer involvement, and that relationship was found to be more salient for a high rather than a low level of consumer involvement. Practical and theoretical implications are given.     

Gender differences in consumers’ perception of online consumer reviews

Since the early days of the Internet, gender gap has existed in using the Internet, and it is particularly evident for online shopping. Females perceive higher level of risk for online shopping, and as a result, they tend to hesitate to make purchase online. Online consumer reviews can effectively mitigate such perceived risk by females and thereby attract them to buy online. This study investigates the effect of online consumer reviews on consumer’s purchase intention. In particular, we examine whether there are gender differences in responding to online consumer reviews. The results show that the effect of online consumer reviews on purchase intention is stronger for females than males. The negativity effect, that consumers are influenced by a negative review more than by a positive review, is also found to be more evident for females. These findings have practical implications for online sellers to guide them to effectively use online consumer reviews to engage females in online shopping.     

The impact of organizational efforts on consumer concerns in an online context

As organizations spend a significant amount of their resources on online channels, it is vitally important to understand the effects of this cost on consumer behavior. The author developed and empirically tested an integrated model combining the effects of organizational efforts on consumer concerns, process satisfaction, and purchase intentions. The results of this effort suggested that consumers are still skeptical of the organizational efforts in an online context and their concerns remain a critical factor in influencing their satisfaction and purchase intention. The study provided insights for managers about how they may reduce shopping cart abandonment in online purchasing environment by focusing on consumer concerns.     

Modelling and testing consumer trust dimensions in e-commerce

Prior research has found trust to play a significant role in shaping purchase intentions of a consumer. However there has been limited research where consumer trust dimensions have been empirically defined and tested. In this paper we empirically test a path model such that Internet vendors would have adequate solutions to increase trust. The path model presented in this paper measures the three main dimensions of trust, i.e. competence, integrity, and benevolence. And assesses the influence of overall trust of consumers. The paper also analyses how various sources of trust, i.e. consumer characteristics, firm characteristic, website infrastructure and interactions with consumers, influence dimensions of trust. The model is tested using 365 valid responses. Findings suggest that consumers with high overall trust demonstrate a higher intention to purchase online.     

A service-oriented analysis of online product classification methods

Studies of Internet market have found that consumers' purchasing behaviors including information search, channel selection, and brand evaluation processes are impacted by the product/service types. In this research, we perform a comprehensive review of existing online product classification methods. An in-depth analysis of the rationale behind each method was studied, and important product characteristics were determined for integrating different approaches. Grounded on the theory of the components of perceived risk in product purchase and the recently emerged service science, the integrated classification will help companies to better understand the online consumer purchasing behavior and to design their e-commerce strategies accordingly. Survey results indicate that the integrated classification is an effective way to classify products and services marketed on the Internet.     

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.     

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.     

Consumer Attitudes Toward Online Mass Customization: An Application of Extended Technology Acceptance Model

This study investigates consumer attitudes toward the online codesign process in mass customization among Korean consumers. The extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was our theoretical framework, along with the constructs of perceived control and enjoyment. Web skill and fashion involvement were integrated as individual characteristics variables in the model. Data from 749 self‐administered surveys collected in South Korea were used in this study. Findings indicated that TAM was an effective conceptual framework in explaining consumer response to the online codesign process. The statistically significant results of the perceived enjoyment and control constructs in the extended TAM suggest the importance of their addition to building a model to explain consumer attitudes toward the online codesign process.     

Antecedents of trust in online auctions

Customer loyalty or repeat purchasing is critical to the online auction sellers’ survival and success. Previous research has established that online repeat purchase intentions are the product of buyer assessments of trust in the online seller. Previous research has also affirmed the importance of justice perceptions in engendering trust. These perspectives, however, have been examined independently by IS and management researchers. By integrating these two perspectives, a richer understanding of buyers’ underlying beliefs and subsequent repeat purchase intentions can be gained. In the research model, bidding justice is proposed as a formative second-order construct driven by distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice, and informational justice. Bidding justice is hypothesized to positively affect trust in the community of sellers, which in turn is hypothesized to positively affect repeat purchase intentions. Data collected from 412 buyers in Yahoo-Kimo’s online auction marketplace provide support for the proposed model. The study shows that trust is a significant positive predictor of buyers’ intentions to repeat purchase. The study also shows that the four dimensions of justice are important components of bidding justice, which in turn has a strong positive effect on trust in the community of sellers. Implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Consumers,channels and communication: Online and offline communication in service consumption

This paper reports on a study that investigated consumer use of e-services in a multi-channel context. Many HCI studies on the use of e-services focus on the use of the online channel in relative isolation. This study attempts to develop a deeper understanding of what makes consumers decide to use the online channel in examining consumer channel-choice beyond the instances of internet use. The consumption behaviour of its participants was investigated across channels in an in-depth qualitative study. The analysis of the rich data produced specifically focused on the investigation of voluntary consumer movements between online and offline channels during the course of a consumption process. The results indicate that participants often use multiple channels in parallel and frequently switch between channels. Literature from marketing and consumer research was used as the perspective to explore the rationale for the complex and dynamic reported consumer behaviour.     

Mood and social presence on consumer purchase behaviour in C2C E-commerce in Chinese culture

While the importance of mood and emotion has been recognized in Information Systems research, they have been studied only tangentially. To explore the influence of mood and social presence on consumer purchase behaviour in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-Commerce, a lab experiment with 200 participants is conducted in China. The structural model explains 36.9?% of the variance in purchase intention. The results indicate that mood plays an important role in consumer purchase behaviour, which has significant impacts on perceived benefit and purchase intention. Social presence has moderating effects between mood and perceived benefit, and between mood and purchase intention. We also find that two cultural dimensions (individualism and uncertainty avoidance) have significant impacts on purchase intention.     

Sources and impacts of social influence from online anonymous user reviews

Consumers increasingly rely on online reviews to make purchase decisions. However, the process through which consumers are influenced by online reviews is not well understood. To fill the gap, we apply the social influence theory to theoretically explain and analyze this opinion change process. Specifically, we identify antecedents and consequences of two types of social influence from online user reviews: informational and value-expressive influence. From a survey conducted in a controlled laboratory environment, we found that perceived review quality positively impacts informational influence, while perceived review quality, consistency, and social presence jointly impact value-expressive influence. Interestingly, informational influence impacts both perceived decision quality and perceived usefulness of the website, while value-expressive influence only impacts perceived usefulness of the website. Surprisingly, consumer characteristics, including prior product expertise and self-monitoring, do not have significant effects on the formation of social influence online.     

Investigating the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance cultural values on multidimensional online trust

Building online trust and understanding its relationship to online customer purchase decision making is important to e-commerce companies. We decided to investigate the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance on the relationship between subjective norms and online trust (integrity, ability, and benevolence) as well as purchase intention on a model we had developed. We generated a questionnaire and first pilot tested it (n = 116), and then modified it before performing the main test of our model (n = 209). Specifically, trust (cognition and affect based) was adapted to better understand social and cultural factors in online customer behavior. Uncertainty avoidance was found to moderate the relationships between subjective norms and two dimensions of cognition-based trust, (integrity and ability). Benevolence, however, was not found to have any relationship to cultural values or purchase intention. Normative influence on ability belief about the website was significant only when the online consumer had a high sense of uncertainty avoidance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Predicting user response to sponsored advertising on social media via the technology acceptance model

Sponsored advertising has generated strong advertising revenues for Facebook in recent years. As sponsored ads are built on an interactive platform that could be seen as invasive to user privacy, the growth of this advertising platform has important implications for consumers, and advertisers alike. As little research is available on consumer response to sponsored advertising as an interactive technology innovation, the current study assesses the effects of user perceptions of privacy risk, intrusiveness concerns and utilities of sponsored advertising on consumer attitudes and purchase intent. Testing a model derived form the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study found that privacy and intrusiveness concerns are both valid antecedent variables to perceived usefulness but not perceived ease of use of sponsored advertising. While both antecedent variables also influence consumer attitudes toward sponsored advertising, only privacy concerns have an impact product purchase intentions. The hypothesized relations between perceived usefulness, ease of use, attitudes and purchase intentions were also validated.     

Understanding the interplay of social commerce affordances and swift guanxi: An empirical study

Prior studies highlight consumer behavior in social commerce from the perspective of relational exchange, while culture-driven aspects have been neglected. Given cultural uniqueness in China, this study develops a research model to explore the effects of key social commerce affordances on swift guanxi dimensions and subsequent purchase intention. Data from 450 agricultural product consumers in social commerce were used in PLS analysis for testing the proposed research model. The results indicate that interactivity, stickiness, and word of mouth exert positive effects on mutual understanding, reciprocal favor, and relationship harmony, to various degrees. In turn, swift guanxi dimensions are determinants of consumers’ purchase intention in social commerce.