Abstract
Research concerning online consumer behaviour has found that consumers are more inclined to utilise the Internet for information searching rather than actual purchasing. One reason proposed for this state of affairs is that potential buyers perceive buying on the Internet as a risky endeavour.The unique purchasing decision in an online environment is different from a traditional purchasing environment and as a result online transactions differ from the traditional "bricks-and-mortar" environment. These differences may lead to risk perceptions among potential purchasers that are unique to online purchase intention. This study assesses the impact of the perceived risks associated with intention to purchase online from a well-established, branded web site on purchasing intentions. A secondary objective of the study was to assess whether the consumer‟s brand knowledge (brand awareness and brand image) mediates the impact of risk perceptions on the intention to purchase from the web site.It was found that both Performance risk and Social risk exert a strong negative influence on Intentions to purchase on a branded web site. Personal risk, however, do not impact on intentions to purchase on a branded web site. Furthermore, it was found that Brand knowledge does act as a mediating variable between Performance risk and Intentions to buy on a branded web site. Brand knowledge, however does not mediate the impact of Social risk on intentions to buy on a branded web site.
Highlights
The origins of the technology can be traced back to 1958, the Internet, initially known as the “International electronic network”, was started in 1986 (Pallab, 1996 as cited in Tan, 1999)
Do not impact on Intentions to purchase on a branded web site
It was found that both Performance risk and Social risk exert a strong negative influence on Intentions to purchase on a branded web site
Summary
The origins of the technology can be traced back to 1958, the Internet, initially known as the “International electronic network”, was started in 1986 (Pallab, 1996 as cited in Tan, 1999). Over time the Internet has evolved away from its initial role as a channel of communication for the military to increasing commercial use. Today the Internet, in a consumer marketing context, is effectively used in four major ways, namely: as a retail distribution channel; as a marketing communication channel or tool; as a customer relationship management tool; and as marketing research tool or a source of information. As a result of these uses the Internet today offers consumers access to an extensive amount of information but is an alternative way of making purchases. Mayo, Helms and Inks (2006: 271) put it this way: ”A key concern in e-commerce continues to be the slower-than-current-anticipated growth rate in consumer purchases...”. The high growth predictions offered in the late 1990`s (Jarvelainen & Puhakainen, 2004; Chen & He, 2003) have not really materialised. Mayo, Helms and Inks (2006: 271) put it this way: ”A key concern in e-commerce continues to be the slower-than-current-anticipated growth rate in consumer purchases...” Estimates of the market share of online purchasing range from under 2% of total retail spending (Retail Forward, 2003 as cited in Swinyard & Smith, 2003) to about 10% in the British retail market (IMRG, 2007 as quoted by totalwebsolutions.com), which suggests that consumers have been slow to adopt online purchasing (Su, 2008)
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