Exploring the core factors of online purchase decisions by building an E-Commerce network evolution model

With the continuous development of the Internet and information technology, online shopping has become a popular purchase mode. The in-depth analysis of consumer decision-making in online shopping is an important issue. Our purpose is to study how the factors of the shopping web pages corporately affect online purchase decisions and determine which are the core factors that affect consumer purchase decisions. We screen the influencing factors on the shopping webpage and deploy e-commerce network evolution based on various weight combinations of these factors to generate sales distributions of online products. By comparing these simulated sales distributions to the real data, the optimal weight of each factor is obtained. The results show that sales volume and the number of high-quality negative comments are the most important factors influencing consumers' decision-making, the number of comments and the number of comments with pictures are relatively minor factors, store type and video presentation of the products have the least impact. The optimal simulated sales distribution is very close to the real case and verifies that the introduced network evolution technology is applicable. The proposed model can be used as a uniform evaluation platform for correlational study, which is an important link in the purchase research chain.     

Measuring the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions – A scale development study

Consumers' exposure to online reviews influences their online retail shopping behavior. They search for reviews while evaluating products for purchase decisions. Past studies have indicated that online reviews affect the credibility and trust of the sellers and the products they sell on online platforms. Keeping this in view, the current paper aims to develop and validate a scale to understand the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions. Data were collected from 431 young online shoppers for this research. The initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results helped identify four factors, viz. source credibility, volume, language and comprehension, and relevance which constitute the scale. The scale was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study's findings fill the gap of having a standardized scale that online retailers can use as indicators to assist consumers in their online decision-making. The discussions and implications support consumers' susceptibility to online reviews, an essential source for product and brand information in facilitating online consumers' purchase decisions.     

Antecedents of participation in online brand communities and their purchasing behavior consequences

This study intends to fill some gaps in knowledge about online communities and their influence on consumers’ purchase decisions. A review of the extant literature on online brand communities reveals that most prior studies have focused on identifying the factors associated with joining and participating in online communities. However, limited studies examine the implications of participation in online brand communities in terms of consumer behaviors, such as brand liking and intention to purchase the brand. In addition, these few studies have either focused on the influence of operational elements of the online community on purchase intention or on the influence of community members’ characteristics regarding purchase intention. Therefore, this study aims to provide an integrated framework for operational and user characteristics’ antecedents associated with consumers’ participation in online brand communities and their effect on purchase decisions. Structural equation modeling was used to test the conceptual model. Data were collected via a survey of the Facebook pages of 282 members of Egyptian telecommunication companies. The findings provide insights into how these antecedents should be managed to enhance participation in virtual telecommunication communities.     

Drivers of consumer adoption of e-Commerce: A meta-analysis

E-commerce has significantly reshaped consumers’ shopping processes and habits. The need to understand the key drivers of online shopping has received keen attention and fueled a rich strand of studies. To help managers and researchers synthesize this growing body of evidence, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis to unearth the factors that influence consumers’ online shopping. Our main takeaways reveal that the most important drivers of online shopping (a) conform to the TAM and TPB theories, in addition to (b) website characteristics and past experience. In particular, the multiple predictors are strongly related to online purchase intentions and purchase behavior, where attitude and convenience show the strongest impact. Furthermore, moderator analyses indicate that cultural traits have specific moderating effects on the links between purchase intention and some of its drivers. For instance, power distance and uncertainty avoidance have a positive effect, while individualism, indulgence and masculinity have a negative one. Finally, we apply meta-analytic structural equation modeling to test a conceptual framework including four groups of drivers (consumer–channel interactions, website characteristics, social influence, and consumer characteristics) and different aspects of online shopping. The findings provide valuable insights for online shopping research and practice.     

Buying while expecting to sell: The economic psychology of online resale

Consumer online resale is becoming increasingly common for transactions of secondhand goods. However, when accompanied by a preconceived intention to resell a product after using it, the initial consumer purchasing decision for self-use is complicated by the estimated resale value of that good. We applied the principles of mental accounting to develop and evaluate a new concept that may influence consumer resale and purchase intention: external resale reference price (ERRP). The study examines how online consumer sellers' economic psychology of buying affected their expectation of future online resale outcome. The results indicate that (1) consumers' awareness of future online resale potential can influence their purchasing decisions; (2) ERRP, which is mediated by the estimated resale return, can increase purchase intention; and (3) the effects of ERRP on purchase intention are moderated by online resale likelihood, but are minimal when consumers are aware that resale possibility is extremely low.     

Reexamining emerging market animosity toward western developed countries: A social dilemma in physical retailing consumption under normative influence

Focusing on physical retailing as an apparent target for boycotts in the context of emerging market consumers' animosity toward Western developed countries, this research pioneers in its in-depth examination of a social dilemma whereby consumers on one hand wish to avoid purchasing Western products/services to meet social expectations, while on the other wish to continue purchasing Western products/services, because of perceived Western product/service superiority, at the risk of social disapproval. Differing from conventional animosity research that largely neglects interpersonal influence, this research synthesizes social influence theory and social exchange theory to compare consumers’ purchase decisions in visible (physical retailing) and less-visible (online shopping) consumption contexts that are subject to different strengths of normative influence, and proposes a cost-benefit analysis to explain how consumers make trade-offs between social expectations and self-interest. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Our study findings have important implications for future animosity research on consumer services that are subject to stronger normative pressure.     

Checkout button and online consumer impulse-buying behavior in social commerce: A trust transfer perspective

To enhance social media users' shopping experiences, social media platforms launched an online shopping feature – the checkout button –allowing users to browse new products, examine items via multiple photos and videos, and purchase items without leaving the platform. Yet, few studies have examined the impacts of the ‘checkout button’ on social commerce users' perceptions and impulse-buying behaviors. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the impact of the ‘checkout button’ on consumers' trust and impulse-buying behavior based on the trust transfer theory, as well as how the impact will differ based on social factors and brand familiarity in social commerce. This study provides valuable insights into social commerce. Checkout within Instagram does not facilitate impulse-buying behavior, but brand familiarity and social factors influence consumer trust and impulse-buying intention. This indicates that well-known brands might be more suitable for social commerce. Furthermore, active social interaction is conducive to impulse-buying intentions in social commerce.     

Leveraging the co-evolution of offline and online video games: an empirical study

Considerable research has been carried out on online shopping and the implications of this purchasing format for consumers and retailers. Most of these studies have focused on consumer attitudes towards online shopping, and how these can be useful predictors of online shopping adoption. Notwithstanding these insights from adoption theory, existing research has yet to distil the most effective means of understanding consumers’ attitudes towards online video game purchases. Based on a qualitative study, our study contributes to literature on adoption theory by presenting some explanations involving online video games purchases by identifying salient perceptions of online and offline motivations and advances ideas on the facilitating role of incentives in making purchase decisions.     

Influences of online store perception,shopping enjoyment,and shopping involvement on consumer patronage behavior towards an online retailer

Online apparel retailers have adopted various types of image interactivity technology (IIT), such as close-up pictures or zoom-in functions, mix-and-match functions, and 3D virtual models to enhance consumers’ online shopping experience. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of level of IIT on consumer perception of online retail environment, shopping enjoyment, shopping involvement, a desire to stay, and patronage intention. Significant structural relationships between these research variables were found, supporting a pleasure-oriented conceptual model of consumer patronage behavior in the online retailing environment. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The role of product brand image and online store image on perceived risks and online purchase intentions for apparel

Purchase intentions for apparel products often require physical examination prior to purchase. Hence, greater risk is associated with shopping online for apparel products, making it important to examine factors that reduce various risks influencing online purchase intentions. This study examines and compares the impact of two of the most important risk reducers for online apparel shopping – product brand image and online store image – on specific types of perceived risks and online purchase intentions for apparel. The results show that product brand image influences consumers' online purchase intentions both directly and indirectly by reducing various risk perceptions. Online store image impacts purchase intentions indirectly by decreasing risk perceptions. The results of this study provide fresh insight into understanding the impact of product brand image and online store image on each type of perceived risk associated with online shopping.     

Illusion of safety: How consumers underestimate manipulation and deception in online (vs. offline) shopping contexts

Online commerce changes how consumers shop for products and services—while also giving firms more control over consumers' shopping experience, more access to their information, and leading more firms to use these platforms to their financial advantage. In this research, I examine consumer perceptions of firms when they shop for products and services online (vs. offline), to determine whether consumers feel firms might use certain kinds of manipulative and deceptive tactics against consumers. Results show consumers believe firms are less likely to use manipulative and deceptive practices to increase consumer spending, when they shop online (vs. offline) for products and services. These findings remain consistent despite key individual differences (in ethnicity, gender, age, and time spent online). This research also demonstrates how certain cues can make consumers more (vs. less) suspicious of firms when they shop online and discusses the implications these findings have for consumer financial welfare.     

How customer engagement in the live-streaming affects purchase intention and customer acquisition,E-tailer's perspective

In the emerging retail market, e-tailers operating in developing economies have to cope with the rapid use of the Internet, new electronic purchasing methods and online selling platforms. However, e-tailers do not understand the effect patterns in which customer engagement on purchase intention and customer acquisition. From e-tailers’ perspective, this study explores how customer engagement behaviors are related to both purchase intention and customer acquisition. We obtained live streaming data in the mature e-tail live streaming market environment and found empirical evidence supporting the conceptual framework through regression model analysis. The analysis results show that the specific indicators of the customer engagement are not all positively related to customer purchase intention and customer acquisition, and it is worth noting that the influence of “like” behavior on customer acquisition is no statistical significance. This is expected to encourage e-tailers to rethink their focus on customer acquisition and sales enhancement digital strategies as they operate in emerging markets.     

Psychological antecedents and risk on attitudes toward e-customization

Consumers can experience relatively low prices with the dramatic diffusion of online shopping even with customized products, which are commonly more expensive than regular products, due to unique functions of customized product order processes in online environments. This paper investigates how two psychological antecedents, (1) need for uniqueness and (2) status aspiration, can influence consumers' attitude with regard to forming procedures toward e-customized products and how perceived risk, another psychological factor, on purchasing e-customized products plays a role of moderating factor. A self-administered online survey of 321 Japanese consumers is conducted to examine a proposed conceptual model with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The analysis using results indicates that the need for uniqueness directly impacts on attitude toward e-customized products while it mediates the effect of status aspiration. A multi-group analysis to test a moderating effect of the perceived risk on purchasing e-customized products highlights the significant effects of psychological factors. The result also provides potential guidelines to e-tailors on possibility of segmenting markets as well as promoting their customized products using these psychological criteria of their target consumers.     

感知风险理论在网上购物中的应用

感知风险理论几十年的发展证明其在解释消费者行为方面的适用性。国外相关研究显示:消费者对风险的感知是阻碍其网上购物的一个重要因素。本文分析了消费者对网上购物的风险感知情况,包括网上购物感知风险的概念,感知的风险类型、风险表现及风险来源,并提出了降低风险的建议。     

Are Consumers International? A Study of CSR,Cross-Border Shopping,Commitment and Purchase Intent among Online Consumers

The purpose of this study is to investigate purchase intent in online marketplaces as an international phenomenon. A profile of the international online consumer is established, taking into account factors such as indicators of socio-economic development of their home countries. A structural model is analyzed using LISREL, testing the importance of CSR, the propensity to buy from international online vendors and commitment with purchase intent as the dependent variable. A cross-national dataset of 804 respondents from 57 countries is analyzed, showing that CSR activities alone do not increase purchasing intent, but they do when mediated by commitment.     

Consumers' Attitudes Toward Labelling of Ethical Products: The Case of Organic and Fair Trade Products

This article aims to investigate the factors that influence consumer attitudes to use labelling information in purchasing organic and Fair Trade products and to verify if labelling is a valid tool of direct shopping aid to consumers, with a view to derive inferences that may contribute to better strategic and tactical marketing decisions. A quantitative survey with a sample of 300 consumers living in south Italy was conducted to explore consumers' knowledge and attitudes toward labelling of organic and fair trade products. Data generated in this way were submitted to exploratory and segmentation analysis. The results indicate significant differences in consumer attitudes and behavior for ethical products and show the importance of new variables, other than demographics characteristics, that can influence the purchasing behavior and label information use.     

Comparing consumer-produced product reviews across multiple websites with sentiment classification

ABSTRACT

Online consumer reviews have been extensively studied. However, existing literature analyzing online consumer review data mostly relies on a single data source, resulting in potentially biased analytics conclusions. Many websites encourage consumers to post reviews of their purchased products, so that new consumers can evaluate these reviews for the same product across different websites to help them make purchasing decisions. Confusions often arise in this process, because there often exist substantial discrepancies in customer reviews across different retailers on the same product. Clarifying such confusions can help consumers reduce concerns to make up their mind for their purchases, therefore benefiting both consumers and retailers. Through text analytics and sentiment analysis, we comparatively examine the underlying patterns of online consumer reviews of three large retailers including Sears, Home Depot, and Best Buy for a same product. Afterward, we combine online consumer reviews from these large retailers and conduct an overall text analytics and sentiment analysis. The overall results are further compared with the results from individual retailers. The findings show that the sentiment of the online consumer reviews could vary substantially so relying on a single data source to make purchase decision is not a wise idea. Based on the results, we further devise a framework to comparatively examine and integrate multiple data sources for social media analytics of online consumer reviews. This study offers important managerial implications and identifies several new research directions for social media analytics.     

Positive and Negative Antecedents of Purchasing Eco-friendly Products: A Comparison Between Green and Non-green Consumers

This study aims to analyze what drives and prevents the purchasing of eco-friendly products across different consumer groups and develops a conceptual model embracing the positive altruistic (care for the environmental consequences of purchasing), positive ego-centric (green self-identity and moral obligation), and negative ego-centric (perceived personal inconvenience of purchasing eco-friendly products) antecedents of eco-friendly product purchase intention and behavior. We empirically validate the conceptual model for green (n = 453) and non-green (n = 473) consumers (i.e., consumers who engage in a set of pro-environmental behaviors for environmental reasons versus consumers who do not engage in these behaviors). Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis of the two groups. The results confirm the relevance of the determining factors in the model and show significant differences in eco-friendly product purchasing patterns between green and non-green consumers. Altruistic motives are more important for green than for non-green consumers. Negative ego-centric motives affect the purchase intentions of non-green consumers more than the intentions of green consumers, whereas the impact of negative motives on behavior is stronger for green than for non-green consumers. The first contribution of this paper is the development and testing of a parsimonious model of eco-friendly products purchasing that embraces both positive (altruistic and ego-centric) and negative (ego-centric) antecedents, which have been theoretically suggested in the past but have rarely been empirically tested together. The second contribution of this study is that it develops insight into the specific antecedents of eco-friendly products purchasing for green and non-green consumers to assess potential similarities and differences in eco-friendly products purchasing process, the hypothesized antecedents, their impact on eco-friendly products purchase intention and behavior, and the intention–behavior relation.     

The impact of online celebrity in livestreaming E-commerce on purchase intention from the perspective of emotional contagion

The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) if online celebrities can directly emotionally influence consumers, and (2) if the other audiences of the same livestream can indirectly emotionally influence consumers to increase their willingness to buy the products recommended by the online celebrities. Therefore, to understand the reasons for the successes of livestreaming e-commerce. Two studies have been conducted: in Study 1, a questionnaire-based survey has been used for data collection and AMOS version 17.0 software was used to analyze the data of the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM); in Study 2, a web data crawler for data collection was developed using python software, and the collected data were processed by ICTCLAS text splitting tool and analyzed by Stata/MP 13.0 software for the econometric model constructed in this paper. This study found that the performance of online celebrities can stimulate consumers' emotions, and thus enhance consumers' purchase intention regarding the products recommended. This study also found that pleasure, arousal, admiration, and emotional trust can influence purchase behavior for cosmetics and clothing. For food products, only pleasure emotion, arousal emotion and admiration emotion can increase the willingness to purchase such products. For other audiences who watch the same Online celebrity for food products, the pleasure, arousal, and admiration emotions can increase searches for, and purchases of the products recommended. This study identified that online celebrities' performances can emotionally influence consumers' willingness to purchase products recommended by online celebrities directly. In addition, the emotions of audiences watching the online celebrities can indirectly influence consumers' willingness to purchase products recommended by the online celebrities.     

Effects of in-store live stream on consumers’ offline purchase intention

Live stream marketing through social media has attracted the attention of digital retailing marketers in recent years. However, there is a lack of evidence in understanding the influence of in-store live stream on offline purchase intentions. This study aimed to investigate the influence patterns of environmental stimuli on consumers' intention to purchase offline/in-store after watching an in-store live stream session. The Stimuli-Organism-Response (SOR) model was employed as the theoretical framework, and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from individuals who had previous experience with in-store live stream marketing. Structural equation modelling was then applied for data analysis, with a total of 234 valid responses. The findings revealed that environmental stimuli have a significant positive effect on consumers' intentions to make in-store purchases, and the attitudes towards influencers and products substantially mediate the relationship between stimuli and purchase intention. More specifically, consumer attitude towards products has a pronounced effect on whether they will make an in-store purchase. The novelty of this research lies in its investigation of the impact that live stream marketing has on offline or in-store shopping experiences. This contrasts with the majority of existing live stream studies, which focus on consumers’ online shopping experiences. In addition, this study broadens the scope of the application of the SOR model to contribute to the growing body of literature on live stream marketing.