Consumers' Perceptions of E-Shopping Characteristics: an Expectancy-Value Approach

Consumers' perceptions of e-shopping characteristics

Abstract

An increasing number of consumers are turning to the Internet to make their purchases. Yet, many e-tailers are going out of business or retrenching. If e-tailers hope to attract and retain satisfied online shoppers, they need to know what evaluative criteria consumers use when selecting an e-tailer. Past research has provided some insight into what characteristics shoppers assess in cyberspace outlets. The extant work, though, has not been without its limitations. Consequently, the present study utilizes a literature review, qualitative research, and quantitative research to identify the underlying e-store choice dimensions of shoppers. In addition, results of multiple regression analysis show that merchandise and interactivity Web attributes are predictors of consumers' attitude toward online shopping. Implications for e-store managers and future research are also provided.

commerce; Internet; Shopping; Expectation; Value analysis; Attitudes.

An executive summary for managers can be found at the end of this article.Internet shopping is becoming an accepted way to purchase various types of goods and services (Donthu, 1999). In 2001, online sales were $48.3 billion, representing an annual growth rate of 45.9 percent, and online sales are expected to grow to $108 billion by 2003 (Shim et al., 2001). Through a computer-mediated shopping environment, online retailers have attracted consumers by offering a reduction in search costs for products and product-related information (Janssen and Moraga, 2000; Shankar et al., 1999).

Attendant with the explosion in Internet shopping is tremendously increasing interest in e-commerce research, particularly with respect to e-shopping attributes. For instance, previous researchers have examined e-store characteristics as predictors of online consumers' intention (Shim et al., 2001), satisfaction (Szymansky and Hise, 2000), and acceptance of new technology...