Title: Innovativeness and uniqueness as motivations for online shopping tendency and the mediating role of information acquisition

Authors: H. Adityan; K. Harikrishnan; S. Joseph Jeya Anand; B. Saju

Addresses: VIT Business School, VIT University, Chennai – 600127, India ' VIT Business School, VIT University, Chennai – 600127, India ' VIT Business School, VIT University, Chennai – 600127, India ' VIT Business School, VIT University, Chennai – 600127, India

Abstract: Rapid developments in information technology have substantially changed the landscape of consumer shopping behaviour. Consumers' buying opportunities have expanded through an increased accessibility to products and services online with ease and convenience. Call for future research to understand the motives for online purchase behaviour emerges from literature review. Consumer behaviourally insightful model, first of this kind, with psychological traits information acquisition (IA), consumer innovativeness (CIN), consumers' need for uniqueness-creative choice counter-conformity - (CNFU-CCC) dimension and online shopping tendency (OST) was hypothesised and empirically tested for this research. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the hypothesised model was consistent with data and the psychological antecedents CIN and CNFU-CCC and consequence OST constructs were having positive relationship with IA. Mediating role of IA has been established. The findings of this study will enable the marketers to evolve strategies to enhance online shopping tendency thereby resulting in enlarged online shopping.

Keywords: information acquisition; online shopping; consumer innovativeness; consumer behaviour; need for uniqueness; motivation; mediating role; psychological traits; purchase behaviour; structural equation modelling; SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2017.083264

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2017 Vol.13 No.1, pp.30 - 51

Received: 05 Feb 2015
Accepted: 23 Mar 2015
Published online: 23 Mar 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article