Relationship between risk and intention to purchase in an online context: role of gender and product category

Multiple studies have attempted to explain the online shopping behaviour of consumers both in Information Systems (IS) and Marketing literature. However, given the widening gap between actual and expected increase in Internet-enabled or web-based consumer purchase transactions, the need to investigate the underlying factors for on-line purchase behaviour assumes increased significance. Also, the gap between actual purchase behaviour of the consumer on Internet and that explained by existing research points to the possibility of some unexplained control variables influencing consumers’ online shopping behaviour. Building on past research, our study incorporates gender and product category as two control variables and unlike prior studies takes an integrative perspective by examining the interactional role of gender and product category on online shopping behaviour. Our study results show that relationship between perceived risk and intention to purchase is moderated by interaction of gender and product category. One major finding of this study, that perceived usefulness mediates the relationship between perceived risk and intention to purchase, has significant theoretical implications for technology acceptance model in Internet context. Our study also indicates perceived usefulness to be the primary determinant of on-line purchase behaviour and points to likely nonsignificant role of perceived ease of use in influencing purchase intention. We discuss these results and provide implications for both theory and research.