Factors influencing smartphone based online shopping: an empirical study of young Women shoppers

Abstract

Purpose The study examines how young working women are motivated by online shopping. The study tests the relationship between Internet self-efficacy (ISE), website aesthetics, and purchase intention through perceived benefit. An investigation of the impact of perceived risk on purchase intention is also carried out. Design/methodology/approach The paper carried out a quantitative study based on a purposive sample of 180 working women from the Delhi-NCR region of India and used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test hypotheses based on the extended TAM model. Findings Perceived benefit, website aesthetics, and ISE positively and significantly impact working women's purchase intention. The study also finds an indirect relationship between ISE and purchase intention through perceived benefit. Perceived risk has a negative and insignificant influence on working women's purchase intention for online shopping. Practical implications The study finding reflects that perceived website aesthetics fill the gap between offline and online environments. ISE makes shopping easy and increases the shopper's confidence. A mobile-optimized website with ease of navigation would increase women shoppers' conversion rates on mobile devices, leading to a favourable impact on revenue generation for online retailers. Originality/value Despite the vast literature on constructs derived from the TAM model, very few studies have researched young women consumers from an emerging economy perspective. The novelty of this research lies in identifying the factors that influence young working women's online shopping intention using smartphone through the glance of ISE and perceived aesthetics in the Indian context.