Online buying perceptions in Spain: can gender make a difference?

Internet has led to radical changes in commercial relations and especially in consumer buying habits. Considering the peculiar characteristics of Internet shopping, it is difficult to engender consumer online trust and consumer face an adverse selection problem when having to choose the best web site to buy from. This problem may be mitigated by signaling the high-quality and good behavior of the e-vendor or by consumer satisfactory experiences. As gender can make differences in the decision-making processes of individuals, the purpose of this study is to find out if there are gender differences regarding the effect of three specific signals of quality—service quality, warranty, and security and privacy policies– on e-satisfaction and e-trust, and on the relation between satisfaction and trust. The research questions were tested using information gathered from Spanish online buyers and using structural equation modeling. Results suggest that suitable gender-based signaling strategies could conceivably be prepared in accordance with the target population, which holds interesting implications for both the academic and the professional world.

[1]  Indrajit Sinha,et al.  Consumer-level factors moderating the success of private label brands , 2000 .

[2]  M. Gilly,et al.  eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting etail quality , 2003 .

[3]  K. Chung,et al.  The antecedents and consequents of relationship quality in internet shopping , 2010 .

[4]  R. Feinberg,et al.  E‐CRM Web service attributes as determinants of customer satisfaction with retail Web sites , 2002 .

[5]  C. Camarero,et al.  Consumer trust to a Web site: moderating effect of attitudes toward online shopping. , 2008, Cyberpsychology & behavior : the impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society.

[6]  Young-Gul Kim,et al.  Identifying key factors affecting consumer purchase behavior in an online shopping context , 2003 .

[7]  F. Selnes.  Antecedents and consequences of trust and satisfaction in buyer‐seller relationships , 1998 .

[8]  Veronica Liljander,et al.  Customer Loyalty to Content-Based Web Sites: The Case of an Online Health Care Service , 2004 .

[9]  James W. Gentry Suraj Commuri Sunkyu Jun.  Review of literature on gender in the family , 2003 .

[10]  C. Grönroos,et al.  The value concept and relationship marketing , 1996 .

[11]  Robert W. Ruekert,et al.  Signaling Unobservable Product Quality through a Brand Ally , 1999 .

[12]  F. Gilbert,et al.  Psychographic constructs and demographic segments , 1995 .

[13]  Øyvind Helgesen,et al.  Gender, store satisfaction and antecedents: a case study of a grocery store , 2010 .

[14]  K. Williamson,et al.  Understanding Consumer Adoption of Internet Banking: An Interpretive Study in the Australian Banking Context , 2006 .

[15]  A. Rao,et al.  No Pain, No Gain: A Critical Review of the Literature on Signaling Unobservable Product Quality , 2000 .

[16]  Blanca Hernández,et al.  Age, gender and income: do they really moderate online shopping behaviour? , 2011 .

[17]  K. Sheehan,et al.  An investigation of gender differences in on-line privacy concerns and resultant behaviors , 1999 .

[18]  Barton A. Weitz,et al.  The Use of Pledges to Build and Sustain Commitment in , 1992 .

[19]  Mark E. Slama,et al.  Selected Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics Associated with Purchasing Involvement , 1985 .

[20]  Linda Leung.  Designing Online Experiences: Beyond the Tyranny of Usability , 2005 .

[21]  Hong-Youl Ha.  Factors influencing consumer perceptions of brand trust online , 2004 .

[22]  Horst Treiblmaier,et al.  What Keeps the E-Banking Customer Loyal? A Multigroup Analysis of the Moderating Role of Consumer Characteristics on E-Loyalty in the Financial Service Industry. , 2006 .

[23]  P. Nelson.  Advertising as Information , 1974, Journal of Political Economy.

[24]  Abhijit Biswas,et al.  The diagnostic role of signals in the context of perceived risks in online shopping: Do signals matter more on the Web? , 2004 .

[25]  D. Griffith,et al.  Drivers of local merchant loyalty: Understanding the influence of gender and shopping motives , 2006 .

[26]  Karl G. Jöreskog,et al.  Lisrel 8: Structural Equation Modeling With the Simplis Command Language , 1993 .

[27]  Donald J. Shemwell,et al.  Relational Exchange in Services , 1994 .

[28]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[29]  David M. Szymanski,et al.  E-satisfaction: an initial examination , 2000 .

[30]  Norizan M. Kassim,et al.  The effect of perceived service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty in e‐commerce settings , 2010 .

[31]  M. Gilly,et al.  The Elderly Consumer and Adoption of Technologies , 1985 .

[32]  Raymond R. Burke.  Technology and the customer interface: What consumers want in the physical and virtual store , 2002 .

[33]  Gill Valentine,et al.  Cool places : geographies of youth cultures , 1998 .

[34]  Han Yi,et al.  Trust and e-commerce: a study of consumer perceptions , 2003, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[35]  L. Stoel,et al.  Effect of brand familiarity, experience and information on online apparel purchase , 2005 .

[36]  Anthony D. Miyazaki,et al.  Reducing online privacy risk to facilitate e‐service adoption: the influence of perceived ease of use and corporate credibility , 2010 .

[37]  Christian Homburg,et al.  Applications of structural equation modeling in marketing and consumer research: A review , 1996 .

[38]  B. Nooteboom,et al.  Effects of trust and governance on relational risk. , 1997 .

[39]  Janet R. Mccoll-Kennedy,et al.  Experience as a moderator of involvement and satisfaction on brand loyalty in a business-to-business setting , 2005 .

[40]  Ellen Garbarino,et al.  GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE PERCEIVED RISK OF BUYING ONLINE AND THE EFFECTS OF RECEIVING A SITE RECOMMENDATION , 2004 .

[41]  C. Gilligan.  In a Different Voice. Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA (Harvard University Press) 1982. , 1982 .

[42]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  An Examination of the Nature of Trust in Buyer–Seller Relationships: , 1997 .

[43]  Karin Braunsberger,et al.  Developing inventories for satisfaction and Likert scales in a service environment , 2009 .

[44]  R. Oliver.  A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions , 1980 .

[45]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[46]  W. Reinartz,et al.  An Empirical Comparison of the Efficacy of Covariance-Based and Variance-Based SEM , 2009 .

[47]  G. Zaltman,et al.  Factors affecting trust in market research relationships. , 1993 .

[48]  Eun-Ju Lee.  Creating Value For Online Shoppers: Implications For Satisfaction and Loyalty , 2005 .

[49]  Geoffrey S. Hubona,et al.  The effects of gender and age on new technology implementation in a developing country: Testing the theory of planned behavior (TPB) , 2007, Inf. Technol. People.

[50]  Sung-joon Yoon,et al.  The antecedents and consequences of trust in online-purchase decisions , 2002 .

[51]  Dara V. O'Neil.  Analysis of Internet Users’ Level of Online Privacy Concerns , 2001 .

[52]  Claes Fornell,et al.  A second generation of multivariate analysis , 1982 .

[53]  Charles J. Kacmar,et al.  Developing and Validating Trust Measures for e-Commerce: An Integrative Typology , 2002, Inf. Syst. Res..

[54]  R. Teas,et al.  The effects of extrinsic product cues on consumers’ perceptions of quality, sacrifice, and value , 2000 .

[55]  K. Deaux.  From individual differences to social categories: analysis of a decade's research on gender , 1984 .

[56]  Swinder Janda,et al.  How do consumers evaluate Internet retail service quality , 2003 .

[57]  Christian Homburg,et al.  Relationship Characteristics as Moderators of the Satisfaction-Loyalty Link: Findings in a Business-to-Business Context , 2003 .

[58]  Xiaoni Zhang,et al.  Modeling Influences on Impulse Purchasing Behaviors During Online Marketing Transactions , 2007 .

[59]  Fiona M. Smith.  Between East and West: Sites of resistance in east German youth cultures , 1998 .

[60]  Lawrence Ang,et al.  Lemons on the Web: A signalling approach to the problem of trust in Internet commerce , 2005 .

[61]  Marie Christine Roy,et al.  The impact of interface usability on trust in Web retailers , 2001, Internet Res..

[62]  Mary Beth Rosson,et al.  journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecra Privacy as information access and illusory control: The case of the Facebook News Feed privacy outcry , 2022 .

[63]  Hung-Chang Chiu,et al.  The effects of relational bonds on online customer satisfaction , 2009 .

[64]  Inyoung Kim,et al.  Profiling User Behavior for Intrusion Detection Using Item Response Modeling , 2007 .

[65]  Arvinder P.S. Loomba,et al.  Evolution of product warranty: a chronological study , 1998 .

[66]  L. Harris,et al.  The four levels of loyalty and the pivotal role of trust: a study of online service dynamics , 2004 .

[67]  Georgios I. Doukidis,et al.  Virtual store layout: an experimental comparison in the context of grocery retail , 2004 .

[68]  Knowlton W. Johnson.  Structural Equation Modeling in Practice: Testing a Theory for Research Use , 1998 .

[69]  L. White,et al.  Drivers of brand trust in internet retailing , 2010 .

[70]  J. Archer,et al.  Sex differences in social behavior. Are the social role and evolutionary explanations compatible? , 1996, The American psychologist.

[71]  N. Ndubisi.  Effect of gender on customer loyalty: a relationship marketing approach , 2006 .

[72]  Mark A. Bonn,et al.  Using the Internet as a Pleasure Travel Planning Tool: an Examination of the Sociodemographic and Behavioral Characteristics Among Internet Users and Nonusers , 1998 .

[73]  R. Bagozzi.  Principles of marketing research , 1994 .

[74]  Sijun Wang,et al.  Signaling the trustworthiness of small online retailers , 2004 .

[75]  Dahlia Zawawi,et al.  The effects of sex role orientation on family purchase decision making in Malaysia , 2004 .

[76]  Rose Sebastianelli,et al.  Understanding eTrust , 2007 .

[77]  Shankar Ganesan.  Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships , 1994 .

[78]  Urs E. Gattiker,et al.  Using the Internet for B2B activities: a review and future directions for research , 2000, Internet Res..

[79]  Su Qin,et al.  Impacts of customer service on relationship quality: an empirical study in China , 2009 .

[80]  Terence A. Shimp,et al.  The Use of Extrinsic Cues to Facilitate Product Adoption , 1982 .

[81]  Jagdip Singh,et al.  Agency and trust mechanisms in consumer satisfaction and loyalty judgments , 2000 .

[82]  Robin Birn.  The handbook of international market research techniques , 2000 .

[83]  Kiran Karande,et al.  Recovery Voice and Satisfaction After Service Failure , 2007 .

[84]  Heshan Sun,et al.  The role of moderating factors in user technology acceptance , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[85]  Amy L. Ostrom,et al.  Gender differences in the impact of core and relational aspects of services on the evaluation of service encounters , 1993 .

[86]  Manjit S. Yadav,et al.  Understanding product migration to the electronic marketplace: A conceptual framework , 2005 .

[87]  Terrell G. Williams.  Social class influences on purchase evaluation criteria , 2002 .

[88]  S. Tan.  Strategies for reducing consumers’ risk aversion in Internet shopping , 1999 .

[89]  Sandra Streukens,et al.  Comfort your online customer: quality, trust and loyalty on the internet , 2004 .

[90]  R. Gerrig,et al.  心理学与生活=Psychology and life , 2003 .

[91]  E. C. Ritchie,et al.  Gender Differences , 1981, Language in Society.

[92]  F. Sultan,et al.  Are the Drivers and Role of Online Trust the Same for All Web Sites and Consumers? A Large-Scale Exploratory Empirical Study , 2005 .

[93]  G. Mcdougall,et al.  A model of online customer behavior during the initial transaction: Moderating effects of customer characteristics , 2005 .

[94]  Peter McGoldrick,et al.  On‐screen characters: their design and influence on consumer trust , 2006 .

[95]  Yujong Hwang,et al.  The impact of uncertainty avoidance, social norms and innovativeness on trust and ease of use in electronic customer relationship management , 2009, Electron. Mark..

[96]  France Bélanger,et al.  Trustworthiness in electronic commerce: the role of privacy, security, and site attributes , 2002, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[97]  Glenn B. Voss,et al.  Determinants of online channel use and overall satisfaction with a relational, multichannel service provider , 2003 .

[98]  G. Lau,et al.  Consumers' Trust in a Brand and the Link to Brand Loyalty , 1999 .

[99]  Jon M. Hawes,et al.  Perceived risk and the selection of a retail patronage mode , 1986 .

[100]  John P. Meyer,et al.  A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment , 1991 .

[101]  Cheolho Yoon,et al.  Developing the Causal Model of Online Store Success , 2009, J. Organ. Comput. Electron. Commer..

[102]  Shelly Rodgers,et al.  Gender and e-commerce: an exploratory study , 2003, Journal of Advertising Research.

[103]  Stacy L. Wood.  Remote Purchase Environments: The Influence of Return Policy Leniency on Two-Stage Decision Processes , 2001 .

[104]  D. Gefen,et al.  E-commerce: the role of familiarity and trust , 2000 .

[105]  Dawn Iacobucci,et al.  The effect of guarantees on consumers’ evaluation of services , 1998 .

[106]  E. Koff,et al.  Gender, anxiety, and human figure drawings. , 1982, Journal of personality assessment.

[107]  Kyle Bagwell,et al.  Advertising and Limit Pricing , 1988 .

[108]  D. Aravazhi Irissappane,et al.  E-services and their Role in B2C E-commerce , 2004 .

[109]  Vazifehdust Housein,et al.  CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS OF E-SERVICE QUALITY IN ONLINE SHOPPING , 2012 .

[110]  Winand Emons.  Warranties, moral hazard, and the lemons problem , 1988 .

[111]  w-hen Dodd.  A GLOSSARY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TERMS , 1941 .

[112]  Konstantinos Theodoridis,et al.  Satisfaction determinants in the Greek online shopping context , 2010, Inf. Technol. People.

[113]  V. Mittal,et al.  Satisfaction, Repurchase Intent, and Repurchase Behavior: Investigating the Moderating Effect of Customer Characteristics , 2001 .

[114]  E. C. Hodgman,et al.  A conceptual framework to guide nursing curriculum. , 1973, Nursing forum.

[115]  Claire Payne,et al.  Engendering trust in e‐commerce: a study of gender‐based concerns , 2002 .

[116]  Shumaila Y. Yousafzai,et al.  Strategies for Building and Communicating Trust in Electronic Banking: A Field Experiment , 2005 .

[117]  Richard F. Yalch,et al.  Effects of Store Music on Shopping Behavior , 1990 .

[118]  Lina Zhou,et al.  ONLINE SHOPPING ACCEPTANCE MODEL — A CRITICAL SURVEY OF CONSUMER FACTORS IN ONLINE SHOPPING , 2007 .

[119]  Christian Homburg,et al.  Personal characteristics as moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty—an empirical analysis , 2001 .

[120]  Gwo-Guang Lee,et al.  Customer perceptions of e‐service quality in online shopping , 2005 .

[121]  L. Flynn,et al.  Psychological and behavioral drivers of online clothing purchase , 2004 .

[122]  Young-Gul Kim,et al.  The Effect of Information Satisfaction and Relational Benefit on Consumers' Online Shopping Site Commitments , 2006, J. Electron. Commer. Organ..

[123]  Venkatesh Shankar,et al.  Online trust: a stakeholder perspective, concepts, implications, and future directions , 2002, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..