Antecedents of online purchase intention and behaviour: Uncovering unobserved heterogeneity

Abstract

The paper aims at exploring the antecedents of customers’ online purchase intention and behaviour, and at uncovering sources of heterogeneity. A sample of customers was surveyed to measure perceived risk and benefits, trust, online purchase intention and behaviour. The study confirmed the causal chain of perceived risks-trust-perceived benefits-online purchase intention-actual purchase. A Finite Mixture Partial Least Squares (FIMIX-PLS) was performed to uncover sources of heterogeneity. It found that the level of security of the payment methods is relevant to understand the relationship between purchase intention and behaviour, while the level of previous experience with the online medium clarifies the relationship between perceived risk and trust. The study contributes to understanding the antecedents of online purchase intention and their relationship with actual purchase behaviour. Additionally, it offers evidence of heterogeneity in the proposed causal relations, particularly, concerning the level of trust in the payment methods and the level of Internet experience.