The impact of personal traits in the internet purchase intention and the mediating role of familiarity and attitude on online purchase

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze, within the specific context of internet shopping, what is the relationship between personal traits and purchase intention, seeking to understand what is the role of attitude toward online purchase and the consumer familiarity with online shopping in that relationship. A survey was conducted in order to understand the effect of four personal traits: selfefficacy, inherent novelty seeking, need for interaction, and need for touch in the familiarity, in the attitude and in the online purchase intention. Based on the literature review, a model was built and tested, using Confirmatory Factor Analysis to evaluate the measurement model and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the hypotheses of this work. A total of 233 graduate students answered to the survey. The results demonstrated that there is a significant relationship between personal traits, familiarity and attitude toward online purchase. The need for social interaction was the most relevant personal trait having a direct impact on the familiarity and attitude, being a key feature in the online buying process. Furthermore, as a result, it was confirmed that familiarity mediates the relationship between personal traits and attitude toward online shopping. The latter plays a central role shaping the purchasing behavior, being strongly influenced by familiarity, and affecting directly the purchase intention. The theoretical implication of this study is to investigate the still largely unexplored field of knowledge of online consumer behavior, such as the role of attitude and personal traits in the online purchase intention. As a managerial implication, this study gives practitioners a better understanding of the factors that influence online shopping.