Examination of critical factors affecting online impulse buying behavior: a moderating effect of payment methods.

Abstract

In a world that is becoming increasingly digitally connected, online shopping is growing in importance, not only for researchers but also, more importantly, for companies to focus upon as a point-of-purchase for brands by target customers. More and more customers in developing and developed markets are moving towards buying products and services online, while many companies are altering their marketing and customer development strategies to have a renewed focus on ecommerce as an emerging but crucial go-to-market channel. This study has adopted a quantitative process and employs the S-O-R model, investigating the aspects of customer perceptions regarding serendipitous information, scarcity messages, website quality, product attributes, and the urge to buy impulsively, which drive online impulse buying. The study will also address the moderating role of payment methods in an online shopping context, emphasising credit card use and cash-on-delivery mechanisms. Through an extensive literature survey which identifies critical knowledge gaps, a research framework was developed based on which a set of hypotheses was developed for testing in the study. The findings of the research indicated that there is a significant and positive relationship between each latent construct (scarcity messages, serendipitous information, website quality and product attributes) and the dependent variable OIBB as well as UBI. In addition, it was found that UBI plays a solid and significant mediating role between the independent variables and OIBB. Regarding moderation, the impact of credit card use on the relationship between UBI and OIBB was significant. In contrast, the moderating role of cash on delivery on the relationship between UBI and OIBB was found to be insignificant and not supported. The results of this study will benefit both emarketers and e-retailers in crafting and executing their marketing strategies to enhance sales and gain market shares profitably by driving online impulse buying viz-a-viz rivals and thus gain a sustainable competitive advantage.