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Int. J. Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2004
Consumer adoption of the internet as an information
search and product purchase channel: some
research hypotheses
Byeong-Joon Moon
School of International Management, KyungHee University,
Yongin-shi, Kyunggi-do 449-701, South Korea
Fax:+82-31-204-8113
E-mail: bmoon@khu.ac.kr
Abstract: This study provides an exploratory model to understand the factors
that influence consumers to adopt the internet instead of traditional channels for
information search and product purchase. The authors reviewed previous
established theories on consumer decision making in offline environments and
research findings regarding consumer behaviour in an online environment. The
authors embraced the contingent consumer decision-making model provided by
Bettman et al. and classified the factors that influence consumers to use online
channels instead of traditional channels into three groups – person, problem,
and context.
Keywords: consumer adoption; internet; contingent decision-making model;
information search channel; product purchase channel.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Moon, B-J. (2004)
‘Consumer adoption of the internet as an information search and product
purchase channel: some research hypotheses’, Int. J. Internet Marketing and
Advertising, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.104–118.
Biographical notes: Byeong-Joon Moon is an Associate Professor at
KyungHee University in South Korea and was previously on the faculty of the
International University of Japan. He received an undergraduate degree in
business administration and an MBA from Seoul National University, and a
PhD from the University of Connecticut. His teaching and research interests are
in the area of internet marketing, cross national consumer behaviour,
international marketing, and strategic marketing. He has published articles in
journals such as Psychology and Marketing, Advances in Consumer Research,
International Business Review, and Journal of International Consumer
Marketing.
1
Introduction
The digital economy that is driven by information technology and e-commerce is being
developed worldwide. According to the report, The Emerging Digital Economy II,
published by the US Department of Commerce [1], the weight of e-commerce in total
sales by some companies is pretty high even though the portion of e-commerce in total
US consumer sales is less than 1%. For instance, the Dell computer company recorded 18
million dollars sales through the internet during the first quarter of 1999. As a result,
about 30% of its 5.5 billion dollars total sales were achieved through the internet.
Copyright © 2004 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Consumer adoption of the internet
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One of the reasons for such a rapid diffusion of e-commerce is probably the benefits
that the internet provides. First of all, the internet offers diverse kinds of convenience to
consumers for them to search information, evaluate, purchase, and use products
(hereafter, we define products to include both tangible goods and intangible services)
more efficiently and effectively than other channels to satisfy their needs. The internet
can enhance consumer efficiency by facilitating consumers’ access to consumption
related information more quickly and save time, effort, and monetary cost for information
collection. The internet can also improve consumer effectiveness by providing the
mixture of sound, image, text, and visual tools to enhance consumer learning and help
consumers choose products that can best satisfy their needs [2]. Accordingly, the internet
is likely to replace traditional distribution and communication channels and evolve as a
channel with much potential.
To date, relatively few studies have investigated the impact of the internet on
consumer behaviour. McGaughey and Mason [2] discussed the influence of the internet
on consumer behaviour through each step of consumer decision making
(problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase, post-purchase
behaviour). Alba et al. [3] studied the factors that motivate both consumers and marketers
to become involved in electronic home shopping. Oh [4] investigated the factors that
promote e-commerce and presented several consumer related variables such as purchase
habits, lifestyle, perception of e-commerce, demographic characteristics. Han et al. [5]
proposed the factors that influence consumer buying intentions through the internet, such
as challenging mindsets towards the internet, internet usage skill, perceived risk,
perceived service quality, and involvement. However, previous studies only partially
explained the factors that influence consumer buying behaviour through the internet or
focused on the marketer’s point of view. That is, they tried to investigate in which cases
the internet is a more efficient marketing channel than traditional offline channels.
Therefore, research on a comprehensive analytical framework to understand the factors
that influence consumers to adopt the internet instead of traditional marketing channel is
sparse.
The objective of this research is to provide a comprehensive framework to analyse the
factors that influence consumers to choose either offline channels or online channels for
their information search and product purchase. To do this, we review existing consumer
decision-making theories established in an offline environment and previous research on
consumer decision making in the internet environment. In particular, we build on the
contingent consumer decision-making model provided by Bettman et al. [6] and propose
a conceptual model and research propositions to understand the factors that influence
consumers in choosing between offline and online channels for their information search
and product purchase.
2
Contingent consumer decision making
Consumers always make decisions on consumption related information search, brand
choice, and product usage. These decisions are sometimes difficult because there are too
many alternatives or limited time. Particularly, considering the latest super-diffusion of
the internet, consumers have to make decisions on whether they will search information
through offline channels or the internet, whether they will search information through the
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internet and then they buy through offline channels or whether they will search
information through offline channels and then buy through the internet, or use the internet
for both information search and product purchase.
As fundamental issues in the consumer behaviour area, such topics as how consumers
develop and use their consumer decision-making strategies, how different degrees of
prior knowledge affect the consumer decision-making process, how consumers adapt to
different consumer decision settings are extensively investigated. In particular, theories
on how consumers who have limited information processing ability cope with consumer
decision tasks that have different attributes have been actively evolved. Bettman et al. [6]
argued that a consumer adapts and modifies his or her own decision-making strategy to
meet the demand of the specific decision-making problem that he or she faces. That is,
they argue that consumer choice on decision-making strategies is contingent on three
factors – the characteristics of the person making the decision, the decision problem, and
social context. This conceptual framework may provide useful implications for the
consumer decision strategy of whether consumers will use traditional marketing
communication and distribution channels or the internet for their information search and
product purchase.
Proficiency or knowledge of the consumer who makes the decision gives an essential
impact to contingent decision making. For instance, consumers who perceive arithmetic
to be difficult are likely to use decision heuristics that require qualitative inferences
instead of quantitative inferences relatively more often than those who perceive
arithmetic to be easy [7]. Furthermore, extensive research shows that consumers’ prior
knowledge and experience influence the information processing modes (e.g. [8]) or
inferences (e.g. [9]).
The variables that explain the decision problem also restrict the usage of decision
rules [10]. For example, in the case of a simple decision problem that has only two or
three alternatives, consumers usually use compensatory decision rules. Conversely, in the
case of a complex decision problem, consumers often use non-compensatory decision
rules [11,12]. Moreover, if consumers feel time pressure, they either simplify the
decision- making process [13], expedite [14,15], or focus on important information [16].
Consumer decision making is not made in a vacuum but is influenced by many
societal factors. For instance, Simonson [17] shows that when a consumer needs to justify
his or her own decision making, he or she usually choose an alternative that is easy to
rationalise. In addition, there is a difference between the case of decision making for
oneself and the case of joint decision making with spouse or children [18]. In sum, the
three variables – person, problem, and context – influence the contingent consumer
decision making. Present research applies and extends this model and investigates the
issue of how consumers make decisions on whether they will use offline channels or the
internet for their information search and product purchase.
3
A conceptual model of consumer choice between traditional marketing
channels and the internet
Consumers follow through the decision-making process to choose an alternative that best
satisfies their needs considering their budget. The process is typically composed of five
steps – problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase, and
post-purchase evaluation. The present research focuses on the two steps – information
Consumer adoption of the internet
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search and purchase – that seem to be important steps in which the internet can provide
more consumer efficiency and effectiveness than traditional marketing channels.
Information search is looking for alternatives for product choice. Product purchase is
buying the chosen product through a channel. Accordingly, consumers may search
information through the internet and then buy products also through the internet. On the
other hand, consumers may search information through the internet and then can buy
products through traditional channels. Alternatively, consumers may search information
through traditional channels and then may buy products through the internet. Thus,
consumer information search and buying behaviour should be examined separately and
influencing factors also need to be investigated independently. Certainly, the common
factors that influence both information search and product purchase together also should
be considered.
Existing consumer behaviour theories focus on the individual consumer’s
psychological factors, social factors, and cultural factors as essential factors that affect
consumer behaviour. They also consider appreciably the moderating roles of the
individual consumer’s continuous involvement and situational involvement. Furthermore,
as discussed earlier, the contingent consumer decision-making model persuasively shows
that consumers who have limited ability for information processing modify and adapt
their decision strategies to cope with the specific decision problems they face. The
present research investigates consumer behaviour through the internet by building upon
existing consumer decision-making theories in offline environments and the impact of the
unique characteristics of the internet on consumer behaviour.
Previous research on online consumer behaviour focused on either only product
purchase through the internet [3,5,19–23] or only information search through the internet
[24–26] and it did not examine composite information search and product purchase
through the internet. Of course, it is not easy to distinguish clearly the factors that
influence consumer information search through the internet from the factors that
influence product purchase through the internet. Actually, some factors may influence
both information search and product purchase concurrently. Moreover, consumer
information search does not necessarily result in product purchase. Anyway, we may
extract the factors that primarily influence consumer information search through the
internet whether it may or may not result in product purchase and factors that primarily
influence product purchase through the internet based upon previous research.
With respect to the research on consumer information search through the internet,
Han [27] examined the influence of consumer characteristics such as the internet usage
skill on the playfulness in the internet setting. Sohn and Ahn [22] showed that
consumers’ knowledge affects their adoption of e-commerce. Furthermore, previous
research [28–35] on the factors that influence the use of information technology such as
online consumer information services suggested that consumer characteristics such as
familiarity with computers affects consumer information search through the internet.
Yang and Cho [26] examined the impact of menu types of web advertisements,
consumers’ need for cognition, and search objectives on consumer information search
through the internet. They adopted Bloch et al.’s [36] argument and classified consumer
search objectives into pre-purchase search and continuous search. According to
Bloch et al. [36], we cannot explain consumer information search for entertainment
purposes with only the scheme of pre-purchase search. Hence, they provided an
alternative search purpose – continuous search.
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The KNP Report on the Internet User [37] published by IMResearch showed that user
satisfaction with the website is decided by information quantity, design, transmission
speed, user-friendliness of search structure, and update pace. It suggests that website
characteristics are likely to influence consumer information search through the internet.
Based upon the previous research discussed earlier, we can sum up the influencing
factors of consumer information search through the internet into three categories –
consumer characteristics, information search objectives, and website characteristics. If we
plug the variables into the contingent consumer decision-making model provided by
Bettman et al. [6], consumer characteristics of our model correspond to the person in
Bettman et al.’s model, search objectives correspond to problem, and website
characteristics correspond to context. These factors are likely to influence a consumers’
decision regarding whether they will use offline channels or online channels for their
information search. We sum up the consumer characteristics variables into the five
factors – knowledge level, internet usage skill, challenging mindset towards the internet,
lifestyle, and demographic characteristics. We apply the binary information search
objective scheme – continuous scheme versus pre-purchase search – provided by
Bloch et al. [36] and adopted by Yang and Cho [26]. We sum up the website
characteristics into the five factors – information quantity, design, access and
transmission speed, user-friendliness of search structure, and update frequency –
suggested by the IMResearch [37].
Meanwhile, regarding consumer purchase through the internet, Peterson et al. [38]
have classified products into two types – search products and experience products –
based upon the information source of consumer product evaluation. According to their
scheme, consumers use primarily external information to evaluate the search products.
Conversely, consumers use primarily their own experience to evaluate the experience
products. They then argued that search products are more appropriate to distribute
through the internet than experience products. They also contended that tangible products
are more appropriate than intangible products and shopping products are more
appropriate than convenience products for retailing through the internet considering the
distribution cost. Kim and Park [21] showed that benefits of internet transactions such as
time saving and convenience enhance consumer purchase intention through the internet;
On the other hand, risks associated with internet transactions such as delivery risk and
payment risk discourage consumers from buying through the internet. Song and Shin [23]
regarded consumer purchase through the internet as a form of innovation. They then
showed that the internet transaction characteristic variables such as relative benefits,
complexity, and compatibility influence consumer adoption of the internet shopping.
Based upon the previous research discussed earlier, we can sum up the influencing
factors of consumer product purchase through the internet into three categories – product
type, benefits of internet transactions, and risks of internet transactions. If we also plug
the variables into the contingent consumer decision-making model provided by Bettman
et al. [6], product type of our model corresponds to the problem of Bettman et al.’s
model, and benefits and risks of internet transactions are construed to correspond to
context. These factors are likely to influence consumers’ decisions regarding whether
they will use offline channels or online channels for their product purchase. We
categorise products type into search products versus experience products, convenience
products versus shopping products, and tangible products versus intangible products. We
condense the benefits of online purchase into five factors – product quality superiority,
price advantage, assortment, time saving, and convenience. To the risks of online
Consumer adoption of the internet
109
purchase, we apply product related risk (functional risk, product, quality, assortment),
purchase method risk (difficulty of comparison, impulse buying, and other purchase risk),
service related risk (delivery, refunds, contract related risk), and payment related risk
(credit card and transaction information related risk) provided and used by Kim and
Park [21].
The internet provides the best environment for concurrent information search and
product purchase and this fact is an important characteristic differentiating the internet
from traditional channels. Consumers search information affected by consumer
characteristics, information search objectives, and website characteristics and then they
may also buy through the internet. Alternatively, the purchase may be made through
offline channels even after consumers search information through the internet. That is,
the possibility that consumers will buy products through the internet instead of an offline
channel after they search information through the internet is likely to be moderated by the
types of goods they are going to buy, benefits of online purchase, and risks of online
purchase. Furthermore, product type, benefits and risks of online purchase may also
influence the possibility of online purchases directly and independently. However, for the
simplicity of our conceptual model, we do not include this influencing route. Our model
is pictorially depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Influencing factors of consumer information search and buying behaviour through the
internet
110
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B-J. Moon
Factors that influence consumer information search through the internet
Sohn and Ahn [22] showed that consumers’ knowledge level influences their adoption of
e-commerce. That is, in the e-commerce market, consumers’ knowledge level makes the
efficiency divide. In the case of less knowledgeable consumers, their information search
is less efficient and it increases the information search cost. As a result, the possibility to
use e-commerce becomes relatively lower. Sohn and Ahn [22] did not distinguish
consumer information search through the internet from product purchase through the
internet in their analysis. Rather, they tried to grasp a broad construct – consumer
adoption of e-commerce – in their consumer research. Nonetheless, the research suggests
that consumers’ knowledge level affects their efficiency of information search through
the internet and is likely to influence consumer information search through the internet as
a result. Based upon the reasoning, we provide following proposition:
P1
The higher a consumer’s knowledge level, the higher is the possibility of
searching information through the internet
Han et al. [5] examined the impact of consumers’ characteristics on their playfulness in
the internet, information search through the internet, and purchase intention. They
contended that the higher a consumer’s internet usage skill, information search
performance, and search proficiency, the higher his or her playfulness in using the
internet. As a result, the higher a consumer’s playfulness on the internet, the higher his or
her intention of information search and purchase through the internet. Furthermore,
previous research [28–35] on the factors that influence consumer usage of information
technology showed that the higher a consumer’s computer familiarity, the higher the
possibility of using information technology. Based upon this, we provide a proposition as
follows:
P2
The higher a consumer’s internet usage skill, the higher is the possibilityof
searching information through the internet
Kozinets [24] suggested that consumers in the cyber community are more active and
intuitive than those in the offline community. Han et al. [5] showed that the higher a
consumer’s challenging spirit and playfulness on the internet, the higher his or her
intention to search or purchase through the internet. Moreover, previous research
discussed earlier [28–35] on the factors that influence consumer use of information
technology suggests that the more venturesome and aggressive towards innovation a
consumer is, the higher is the possibility of his or her information technology usage.
Based upon this reasoning, we propose as follows:
P3
The higher a consumer’s challenging spirit to internet usage is, the higher
is the possibility of his or her information search through the internet
Ewusi-Mensah and Prizasnyski [39] researched on company employees’ adoption of a
new information system project and showed that the more sensitive to a new vogue an
individual is, the higher is the possibility of his or her adoption of new information
technology projects. Oh [4] suggested that the more sensitive to new fashion and used to
Consumer adoption of the internet
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adopting it a consumer is, the more proactive he or she is to use the information
technology. Furthermore, Kim and Kwon [20] contended that a consumer whose lifestyle
is more progressive and assertive in leisure activities uses the internet more frequently
and searches information through the internet more often. Based upon this, we provide a
proposition as follows:
P4
A consumer whose lifestyle is more progressive and assertive in enjoying
leisure activities, and who is accustomed to accept new trends is more likely
to use the internet for his or her information search
Previous research [28–35] on the factors that influence consumer usage of information
technology showed that a consumer’s demographic characteristics such as gender, age,
income, education, and occupation affect his or her adoption of information technology.
Considering that information search through the internet is a typical behaviour of
information technology adoption, we can provide following proposition:
P5
A consumer’s demographic characteristics such as gender, age, income,
education, and occupation influence the possibility of his or her information
search through the internet
Yang and Cho [26] investigated the impact of the objectives of consumers’ information
search on their search behaviour. They adopted the classification scheme of information
search objectives provided by Bloch et al. [36] and categorised consumers’ information
search objectives into ‘pre-purchase search’ and ‘continuous search’. Bloch et al. [36]
pointed out that we cannot explain hedonic search behaviour that does not presume
obvious consumption need with only the pre-purchase search objective. They then
proposed continuous search as an alternative to pre-purchase search. Yang and Cho [26]
examined the impact of consumers’ objectives of information search on their search
extent and search time with regard to web advertising, and preferred format of web
advertising. They showed that consumers with a pre-purchase search objective searched
more actively and preferred external web advertisements rather than embedded web
advertisements. In addition, Shapiro and Varian [40] highlighted the extraordinary search
potential of the internet. Moreover, Dickson [41] pointed out that:
“We are only starting to gain an understanding of the potential strategic impact
of its search and navigation capabilities on global consumption and production.
Within the near future, simple yet extraordinarily powerful price-and-quality
search engines and services are likely to have a significant impact on consumer
behaviour.” [41, p.119]
Thus, consumers with a pre-purchase search objective may use internet price search
services to identify the cheapest products available in the world. Based upon this, we
provide the following proposition:
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B-J. Moon
The objectives of a consumer’s information search (continuous search
versus pre-purchase search) influence the type of information searched,
search time, and extent of search through the internet
The KNP Survey of Internet Users [37] by IMResearch demonstrated that consumers’
satisfaction with a website is decided by information quantity, design quality, access and
transmission speed, user-friendliness of search structure, and update pace. This suggests
that website characteristics are likely to influence consumer information search through
the internet. Moreover, Lee et al. [42] showed that the proficiency of the internet website
that provides information, entertainment, and interactivity affects consumers’ attitude
toward the website. As a result, consumers’ attitude towards the website affects their
attitude toward web advertisement. Previous research [43–49] investigated consumers’
attitude and usage of new information technology applied distribution channels. They
pointed out that the user-friendly interface of e-commerce is a requisite to achieve high
service quality. Additionally, previous research on consumer attitude and usage of
information technology such as home shopping, direct marketing, and EDI [35,50–53]
suggests that the more detailed and useful, accurate and trustworthy, updated and timely
is the information provided by the sellers’ e-commerce interface, the more consumers are
likely to have a favourable attitude toward the e-commerce tools and intention to use
them. Lee [54] showed that physical aspects of an internet retailer influence consumers’
perception of its service quality. Based upon the reasoning, we can provide the following
propositions regarding the influence of website characteristics on consumer information
search through the internet:
P7
The more plentiful is the information provided by the website than that
provided by the offline channel, the higher is the possibility of consumers’
information search through the internet
P8
The better is the design of the website than the artistic facet of an offline
channel’s store display, the higher is the possibility of consumers’
information search through the internet
P9
The faster is the speed of access and transmission of the website than that
of collecting information through an offline channel, the higher is the
possibility of consumers’ information search through the internet
P10 The more user-friendly the search structure of the website is than the
search procedure through the offline channel, the higher is the possibility of
consumers’ information search through the internet
P11 The faster is the update pace of website than the pace of new information
acquisition through an offline channel, the higher is the possibility of
consumers’ information search through the internet
Consumer adoption of the internet
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Factors that influence directly and indirectly consumer product
purchase through the internet
Consumers’ information search through the internet influences product purchase through
the internet. Based upon previous research on internet characteristics and consumer
behaviour, the possibility that a consumer will purchase a product through the internet
instead of an offline channel after he or she has searched information through the internet
is likely to be moderated by product type, internet transaction benefits, and internet
transaction risks.
As discussed earlier, Peterson et al. [38] proposed that the appropriateness of
marketing through the internet is different across different product types (search products
versus experience products). That is, the internet will perform the distribution channel
function competently for search products that can be well evaluated by consumers based
upon only external information. However, the internet may not perform the distribution
channel function for experience products that cannot be sufficiently evaluated by
consumers based upon only external information without their own experience.
Extending the logic of Peterson et al. [38], if a product can be well evaluated with
only external information searched through the internet, consumers do not need to use
offline channels to experience the product before they buy it. Conversely, if a product
cannot be well evaluated with only external information searched through the internet and
a consumer wishes to experience the product before he or she makes a decision on the
purchase, the purchase is likely to be made through an offline channel even after he or
she has searched information through the internet. Based upon this reasoning, we can
propose as follows:
P12 The influence of information search through the internet (hereafter we
express this as ‘online search’) on product purchase through the internet
(hereafter we express this as ‘online purchase’) is moderated by product
type (search products versus experience products)
Products are categorised into tangible products and intangible products (digital goods and
services). Peterson et al. [38] argued that the physical distribution area is the least
probable function out of three functions of offline channels – communication,
transaction, and physical distribution – that the internet will replace. However, it is not
the case with intangible products including digital goods such as software and music,
research reports. That is, considering the physical distribution cost, the internet is rather
more of an ideal distribution channel in the case of digital goods. Kiang [55] suggested
that product characteristics such as product customisation, logistics, and transaction
complexity would decide the competitive advantage of the internet as a marketing
channel against an offline channel. From the perspective of the consumer, in the case of
intangible products, consumers can search information and experience products through
the internet quickly and easily. Consumers can buy intangible products at a cheaper price
through the internet than an offline channel using a price comparison service as discussed
earlier. Though, in the case of tangible products, consumers may perceive the time and
economic utility of online buying as not necessarily bigger than that of offline buying
even after they have searched information through the internet for the reasons discussed
earlier. As a result, the possibility of offline purchase exists even after their online search
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is higher in the case of tangible products than in intangible products. Based upon this
reasoning, we can provide following proposition:
P13 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by product
type (tangible products versus intangible products)
As extensively acknowledged, goods can be classified into convenience products and
shopping products based upon consumer efforts, frequency, and price. Peterson et al. [38]
pointed out that, in tangible products case, shopping products are more appropriate than
convenience products for distribution through the internet considering the physical
distribution cost and price competitive advantage. Interpreting the logic in consumers’
point of view, in tangible products case, the possibility that consumers will buy product
through the internet after they search information through the internet is higher in
shopping products case than convenience products case considering the physical
distribution cost and price competitive advantage. Thus, we can propose as following:
P 14 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by product
type (shopping products versus convenience products)
Previous research [46,56,57] on consumers’ intention to purchase through catalogue
shopping or electronic shopping channels showed that the higher the product quality
provided by the direct channel to satisfy consumers, the higher consumers’ purchase
intention. Other previous research [34,50,53,56] on consumers’ intention to purchase
through electronic shopping or direct marketing channels contended that the lower the
price, and the more diverse the assortment of the product marketed by the channel, the
higher is the consumer’s intention to purchase through the channel. Degeratu [19]
showed that consumers’ price sensitivity is higher in the online supermarket case than the
offline supermarket. It suggests that price directly influences product purchase through
the internet and simultaneously price is likely to play a moderating role (indirect
influence) in the process in which consumers’ enhanced price sensitivity after they have
searched information through the internet affects their product purchase through the
internet. Furthermore, previous research [34,50,53,56] on consumers’ intention to
purchase through electronic shopping or direct marketing channels showed that the more
convenient is the procedure for handling consumer complaints and after-sales service, the
higher is their intention to buy through the channel. Oh [4] and Kwon and Cho [58]
pointed out that, in e-commerce transactions, the exchange of money for products does
not take place simultaneously but there is a time gap between order and delivery. As a
result, the better the service provided to the consumers in the whole process of ordering,
payment, and after-sales service, the more satisfied they are. Based on the above
reasoning, we provide following propositions regarding the moderating roles of the
internet transaction benefits in the path in which online search influences online
purchase:
Consumer adoption of the internet
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P15 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by product
quality provided by the website
P16 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by the price
of the product provided by the website
P17 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by the
assortment of products provided by the website
P18 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by the
speed of the product purchase procedure
P19 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by
convenience of order, delivery, payment, and after-sales service procedures
provided by the website
Kim and Park [21] contended that the benefits of online purchase such as time saving and
convenience enhance consumers’ intention to purchase through the internet; Conversely,
the risks of online purchase such as product reliability, delivery or refund related
uncertainty reduce consumers’ intention to purchase through the internet. Sung and Kang
[59] demonstrated that consumers are concerned with credit card or personal information
abuse in the process of online purchase. This previous research suggests that if consumers
perceive the risks related to product quality, purchase method, payment, and service with
regard to online buying, they may circumvent the internet and choose offline channels for
product purchase even after they have searched information through the internet. Based
upon this, we provide following propositions:
P20 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by
consumers’ perception of product related risk with regard to online
purchase
P21 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by
consumers’ perception of purchase method related risk with regard to
online purchase
P22 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by
consumers’ perception of service related risk with regard to online
purchase
P23 The influence of online search on online purchase is moderated by
consumers’ perception of payment related risk with regard to online
purchase
Considering the objective of this research is to provide a comprehensive analytical
framework regarding influencing factors of consumers’ internet usage, the direct
influence of product type, benefits and risks of internet transactions also need to be
considered. As discussed earlier, product type, benefits and risks of buying through the
internet may moderate the path from online search to online purchase. Simultaneously,
they may directly influence online purchase. That is, consumers search information
through the internet and form a favourable attitude towards the product and internet
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B-J. Moon
channel after they consider product type, risks and benefits of online purchase and
eventually may buy through the internet. Alternatively, consumers may perceive the
advantage of the internet channel compared to offline channel at the initial stage of
consumer decision making, and may execute their purchase through the internet. Thus,
we can provide following proposition:
P 24 Product type, benefits and risks of online purchase directly influence
consumers’ purchase through the internet
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