Explaining online shopping behavior with fsQCA: The role of cognitive and affective perceptions

Abstract

This study uses complexity theory to explain and better understand the causal patterns of factors stimulating online shopping behavior in personalized e-commerce environments. To this end, it identifies cognitive and affective perceptions as essential factors in online shopping behavior and proposes a conceptual model along with research propositions. To test its propositions, it employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 582 experienced online shoppers. Findings indicate nine configurations of cognitive and affective perceptions that explain high intention to purchase. This study, contributes to the literature 1) by offering new insights into the relation among the predictors of online shopping behavior and 2) advancing the theoretical ground of how customers' cognitive and affective perceptions combine to better explain high purchase intentions. The findings support the need for online shopping environments to be more interactive in order to target customers' cognitive and affective perceptions, and increase their intention to purchase.