Predicting Internet Product Purchase Intention: Theoretical Reasoning and Empirical Results

Abstract

This research sheds light on the effect the Internet has on consumers' pre-purchase search and evaluation strategies influencing product purchase intentions. The ease of evaluation on the Internet is often described in terms of a product's search and experience qualities. However, several inconsistencies in the literature suggest this bipartite classification scheme is poorly understood in the context of online consumer behaviour. This research develops and tests a model to explain how consumers interpret search and experience information when making evaluative decisions leading to purchase on the Internet. The results of an online experiment find that Internet product purchase intention is influenced by purchase attitude and confidence in evaluation. These constructs are found to mediate the effects of information quality, attitudes towards the brand, and Internet purchase confidence on purchase intentions. The research model is found to account for more than 70% of the variance in intentions to purchase digital cameras and mobile phones on the Internet. It is concluded that the Internet product purchase intention model is likely to be useful for future diagnostic testing and theoretical examinations of human-computer interaction and online consumer behaviour. Promising avenues for future research in this area are identified, and the implications of the results for Internet strategists and policy makers are discussed.