The mediating effects of attitude towards parallel imports in consumer personality - purchase intention linkage

Abstract

With the advancement in technology, communication and transportation that blur the geographical boundaries among countries, parallel importing has rapidly becoming an important and confounding issue for international trade and management. Authorised distributors are finding ways to combat against parallel imports where gray marketers are improving their sourcing ability to arbitrage on any single opportunity for parallel importing. This study investigates the demand side of the parallel imports market to understand consumers' buying behaviour and examine the underlying factors that influence consumers attitude towards parallel imports and their subsequent to purchase. Results show that risk aversion significantly influences attitude towards parallel imported products and consumer attitudes towards products and channel of parallel imports significantly influence their purchase intention. In the consumer personality and purchase intention linkage, attitude towards parallel import goods partially mediates the relationship, while attitudes towards parallel import channel fully mediates the relationship.