Consumer online purchase behaviour: perception versus expectation

Abstract

Conceptualising online customer behaviour is very important, as more and more customers are interested in buying products through online. To capture online customer behaviour, this study has conducted empirical research in Bangladesh among general online customers who have experience in online buying or have an intention to buy from online boutique websites in Bangladesh. In this regard, the quality-purchase interaction model that was developed, based on both customer perception and the expectation of buying online from business-to-consumer electronic-commerce in Bangladesh, was used to capture actual customer behaviour or behavioural intention for online purchasing. We conducted path analysis through LISREL to reveal the causal relation between independent and dependent variables. There are some significant differences between online buying behaviour and the behavioural intention to buy online, that is between customers who have experience of online buying from a boutique website and those who have the intention to buy online but have not yet gotten an online buying experience.