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Online consumer behavior: An empirical study based on theory of planned behavior
Abstract
The study of online consumer behavior is one of the most important research agendas in management information systems and marketing science. However, there is very limited knowledge about online consumer behavior because it is a complicated social-technical phenomenon and involves too many antecedent factors. Most prior studies in this area often offered inconsistent or even conflicted results due to using various simple research models in order to achieve parsimony. This study aims to overcome the drawback of previous studies and examines up to ten antecedent factors in one research model. This study extends theory of planned behavior (TPB) by including ten important antecedents as external beliefs to online consumer behavior. The ten antecedents are identified by prior studies, mostly in the areas of management information systems and marketing science. This study is conducted with a survey of 288 college students who have online shopping experiences. The collected survey data is used to test each hypothesis developed in the research model. The results of data analysis confirm perceived ease of use (PEOU) and trust are essential antecedents in determining online consumer behavior through behavioral attitude and perceived behavioral control. The findings also indicate that cost reduction helps the consumer create positive attitude toward purchase. Further, the findings show the effects of two constructs of flow - concentration and telepresence on consumer’s attitude. Concentration is positively related to attitude toward purchase, but telepresence likely decreases attitude due to the consumer’s possible nervousness or concern about uncertainty in the online environment. One of the main contributions of this study is that it provides valuable empirical evidence to prove that the TPB-based research model can well handle up to ten external beliefs with combining the partial least squares (PLS) statistical analysis. According to the findings, it is reasonable to conclude the TPB-based model has high potential to manipulate more than ten external beliefs without compromising the model’s goodness of fit.
Subject Area
Marketing|Social psychology|Management
Recommended Citation
Chen, Liqiang, "Online consumer behavior: An empirical study based on theory of planned behavior" (2009). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3355613.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3355613