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6.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDY
While this study offers valuable insights into the important phenomenon of consumer TCs of
online shopping as outlined above, there are many other fruitful avenues for further research.
Firstly, future research could replicate the current study using real data collected from online
vendors. Online vendors in China like Taobao.com, JuMei.com or Dangdang.com are large e-
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commerce companies. It would be of great interest to see how well the results of this study fit
the real business operation, from the perspective of online vendors.
Secondly, it is obvious that a cross-sectional research design does not provide as much
insight as does a longitudinal research design while studying the dynamics of TCs, their
antecedent variables and outcomes. For this reason, it may be appropriate to adopt a
longitudinal study together with interviews to collect a richer set of data to further analyse the
time sequence of the relationships among constructs.
Thirdly, in regard to the measurement model, the two hypothesized antecedent variables -
online store design and environmental uncertainty did not show satisfactory discriminant
validity, thus, they were eliminated from analyses of hypotheses testing. There may be a
need for future research in refining the measurement scale for these two constructs. In
addition, this study has been the initial endeavour to develop and implement the measurement
scales for consumer TCs of online shopping, thus, future research should call for suitable
amendments to the scale.
Fourthly, additional research efforts should be conducted to examine the roles of the three
subtypes of consumer TCs in greater detail. For instance, how do pre-TCs, contemporaneous
TCs, and post-TCs affect online behaviour, respectively? Does customer satisfaction mediate
the relationships between each type of consumer TCs and loyalty in the same way that
customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between TCs as a whole and loyalty? The
researcher encourages future study in her line of enquiry to examine how these distinct TCs
differentially affect consumer behaviour in the online B2C context.
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Fifthly, the study did not theoretically examine the relative importance of the seven
antecedents that significantly influence TCs although empirical results regarding that are
provided and discussed. Future studies may be needed to theoretically investigate why e-
service quality has the strongest effect on TCs, online buying frequency is the second
strongest predictor, perceived Internet expertise is third strongest, and Internet access
availability is the weakest.
Sixthly, the empirical test failed to support the moderating role of the consumer’s risk-
bearing propensity in the relationship between TCs and online purchase behaviour. The
problem might lie in the measurement scales used in the study. However, there is a possibility
that the risk-bearing propensity is actually not a moderator of the consumer TCs – online
purchase relationship. Customers will purchase from an online store where they perceive the
lowest TCs and there will be no difference between risk-takers and risk-averse consumers.
TCs would be the only criteria for them to make the purchase decision. Their purchasing
decision-making has nothing to do with their inherent risk-bearing propensity. Future
research is encouraged to further test the role of the consumer’s risk-bearing propensity in the
relationship between TCs and purchase behaviour. Likewise, due to the insignificant role of
perceived enjoyment of online shopping in affecting the relationship between TCs and loyalty,
future research should investigate this issue.
Seventhly, although the proposed integrative model aims to understand consumer TC
mechanisms in the online shopping environment, it is not limited to consumer- online vendor
relationships only. Although not explicitly stated, when constructing the integrative model,
the researcher attempted to develop a general consumer TC model which includes the
antecedents and consequences of consumer TCs, and the key mediator(s) and moderator(s)
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between consumer TCs and outcome variables. This general model can probably be applied
to other relationship contexts such as consumer-to-consumer relationships and consumer-to-
government relationships. However, the key antecedents of consumer TCs may need to be
modified to suit the particular relationship context being studied. As a result, replication of
this study in other relationship contexts is necessary before the results can be generalized.
In addition, future study can re-test the current research model in the context of different
forms or characteristics of the shopping sites. For example, future research could examine
what type of online store site is more attractive and why they are more appropriate for
marketing certain type of goods. Such research will help online vendors better allocate their
resources and develop appropriate marketing strategies. As different sites have different
attributes, the effects of various web attributes on TCs should be investigated, which will
generate knowledge that helps online firms to design site interface, select proper products
selling on the sites, and modify product characteristics to make them suit the style of the site.
Next, further research should be conducted to apply the model to new environments of B2C
e-commerce. In the recent years, iPhones, iPads and other handheld devices for downloading
and later listening/watching to music, films and even books have gained popularity. It would
be of interest to see how well the results of this study fit new technological advances and
environments as opposed to the traditional e-commerce of buying apparel or books.
At last, as acknowledged in the limitation section, the examination of the integrative model of
consumer TCs of online shopping in other countries can expand the understanding in
different cultural settings, in general, on this topic. A cross-cultural study is necessary
because people affected by different cultural values may exhibit different level of perceived
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TCs and online behaviour. Different results may be found. Therefore, it is recommended that
future research should expand the boundary to online firms in more emerging or developed
economies in order to verify the validity of the model established in this study. Future study
can also consider conducting a comparison study in different countries. Special attention still
needs to be paid to the use of homogeneous groups in cross-cultural study.
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