Psychological predictors of online shopping behavior

The research was conducted to investigate the determinants of consumers' attitudes toward using new technology during the buying process (e-commerce). 274 subjects participated in this study. The age of participants ranged from 19 to 55. 139 participants used the Internet for shopping, 135 participants were Internet users but had never done online shopping. The results are compatible to a large degree with studies that have been carried out in developed countries. The online shoppers are more impulsive in making decisions (during shopping), more variety oriented, and more risk tolerant than Internet users who do not shop online. Additionally, online purchasers accept new products faster than do traditional consumers. The relevant predictors of online shopping behavior are also: the attitude toward the process of shopping, attitude toward computers and an experiential orientation (people who are experientially-oriented like seeing, touching and trying products before buying). The general model of psychological determinants was tested by path analysis. The path analysis showed that the Theory of Planned Behavior by Ajzen and Fishbein can be a very useful tool in predicting online shopping behavior. peerReviewed publishedVersion