Examining the role of online motivations in consumer online shopping intention using technology acceptance model

Abstract

Electronic commerce sales continue rising due to Internet growth. However, online retailers may not be doing enough to promote their products causing them to forego potential profits. Understanding the impact of motivational factors on consumer intention to shop online will enable online retailers to design effective ebusiness strategy that engage users, leading to additional purchases. In this study, the researcher modified the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to reflect the impact of some online motivational factors in online shopping. The TAM posits perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) contribute to an individual‘s behavioral intention. Research has shown motivational factors have the ability to influence PEOU and PU. Although many studies have used the model to better understand e-commerce, the problem is that they have ignored some important external variables. This study adopted a quantitative research methodology using surveys to collect research data from survey subject. A structural equation modeling software (Analysis of Moment Structures or AMOS) was applied to examine the direct and mediating effects hypotheses. The analysis of the data has supported some purposed relationships. It was found that convenience, social media, and personalization positively influence to consumer perceived usefulness of online shopping, and consumer intention to shop online. Moreover, perceived enjoyment positively influences to consumer intention to shop online, and website attributes positively affects perceived ease of use of online shopping. While, results failed to support relationships between the information density and consumer intention to shop online. This research makes several theoretical contributions and provides further insights on the effects of online shopping motivations on consumer behavior particularly in Malaysia. Methodological and practical implications were discussed and several potential avenues for future research were identified and proposed. Generally, this study improves our knowledge on what factors drive consumers to shop online, how they work, and what their implications are for customers and online retailers.