THE DETERMINANTS OF INTENTION TO SHOP ONLINE AND EFFECTS OF BRAND EQUITY ON E-STORE PATRONAGE

Abstract

While the penetration of the Internet in consumers' daily lives still continue with an increasing momentum, this new medium has experienced a radical transformation from being a communication tool to be an economic platform where consumers do not only communicate but also transact. In this perspective, online consumer behavior became an important area for both academics and professionals, which needs to be investigated and explored. As the Internet is a new technological channel for shopping, consumers need first to decide to use this new channel for shopping and then make their online retailer preference. Thus, online consumer behavior involves a two-step process composed of intention to shop online and selection of e-store. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a two steps online consumer behavior model which explains the dynamics of the intention and selection processes. A two staged research design has been implemented in the study. At the first stage, parallel to the existing literature, the effects of risk perceptions, technology acceptance factors, and benefit perceptions on the intention to shop online has been measured. The effect of retailer brand equity on e-store selection process has been measured on the second stage. The research hypotheses have been developed based on both the existing theoretical ground and current findings in the literature. The results of the study confirmed that risk perceptions, technology acceptance factors and benefit perceptions regarding online shopping play a decisive role in the intention of consumers to shop online. A second important finding of the study is that once consumers' involve into online shopping activity, the strength of retailers' brand equity directly affects the consumers' store preference.