"Did Covid-19 Pandemic Change Consumers’ Online Purchase Intention? Assessing via Consumer Trust, Social Influence, Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Purchase"

Did Covid-19 Pandemic Change Consumers’ online Purchase Intention? Assessing via Consumer Trust, Social Influence, Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Purchase ABSTRACT The advent of Covid-19 has changed the way people purchase and consume products/ services. The present study investigates key factors such as perceived usefulness (PU), ease of purchase (EOP), social influence (SI), and consumer trust (CT) affecting online purchase intention (OPI) among consumers of central region of India. Open University Learners, specifically Pandit Sundarlal Sharma (Open) University Chhattisgarh was approached to participate in the present study. Google Form was used in the data collection process in which more than 1200 responses were received, out of which 1060 were found usable for further data analysis. The participants/learners who have made at least one online purchase were only included as participants in the study.The results revealed that PU, EOP and SI explained significant connection with OPI, whereas CT contributed weak connection with OPI. The authors thoroughly discuss the findings of the study. Keywords: Online Purchase Intention, Perceived Usefulness, Ease of Purchase, Social Influence, Consumer Trust