Internet Usage and Online Shopping Experience as Predictors of Consumers’per Preferences to Shop Online Across Product Categories

摘要

This paper studies how adoption and usage behaviour of the Internet and online shopping respectively influence the preference to use electronic commerce to purchase different types of products. We empirically model the preference for electronic commerce when consumers have to buy different types of products and thus face different types of risks (Cox and Rich, 1964). Unlike previous research, we find that consumers who have previously shopped online display stronger preferences to buy products on the Internet irrespective of the perceived level of product specific risks of online shopping. This paper provides an interesting and novel insight into how both adoption and usage of electronic commerce impact on the attitude and risk perception of buying less predictable (more risky) products on the Internet.