Perceived risk barriers to online shopping : experiences of technologically enabled generation y consumers

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : Online shopping is progressively becoming popular worldwide however, in South Africa it continues to experience slower growth rates. This is contrary to the expected uptake of online shopping by a generation who grew up with Internet and have access to Internet technologies on a daily basis. The current study aims to contribute to the understanding of firstly, online consumer behaviour, secondly, the slow growth of online shopping in South Africa and thirdly, the risk perception of a significant market segment in South Africa. The focus of the study was therefore, to investigate the online purchasing behaviour of technologically enabled South African Generation Y consumers, with the primary objective of identifying perceived risk barriers towards online shopping. As a secondary objective, the study also investigated the technology usage profile of Generation Y respondents to identify how, when and why younger consumers in South Africa access the Internet, as well as their online shopping behaviour. Because previous research highlighted the importance of product type when shopping online, perceived risk was measured for the context of high involvement products (clothing), as well as low involvement products (books). Consideration was also given to experienced and inexperienced online consumers and therefore, online purchase and repurchase intent.The study draws from theories such as the Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Perceived Risk and used Structural equation modelling (SEM) to test relationships between the dimensions of perceived risk and online purchase and repurchase intent. It was found that perceived psychological and perceived social risk have a significant effect on the repurchase intent of experienced online consumers, for the clothing and books. In addition, perceived financial and perceived social risk were found to significantly affect online purchase intent of inexperienced online consumers, for the context of clothing and books.From the findings, managerial implications were formulated and suggestions were made for online retailers and marketers to enhance their business strategies. As a result of limitations that exist in the current study, suggestions for future research are also proposed.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University