45
literature also notes that product characteristics affect consumers’
choices among online
stores, traditional stores and other shopping options (Chen
et al.
2010, Lee
et al.
2011a,
Aghekyan-Simonian
et al.
2012). In this section, online vendor/store and product
characteristics are thoroughly reviewed with a summary of the findings in Appendix B.
2.3.3.1 Risk Reduction Measures
In the context of online shopping, several studies have been conducted
in relation to the
concept of risk reduction. Risk reduction measures, such as a money-back guarantee policy,
can be seen as a process-based trust production mechanism (Akçay
et al.
2013, Chang
et al.
2013). Although some customers may not consider this to be a risk reliever, it is still
perceived as an effective measure to act against the unreliable online
transaction
environments (Suwelack
et al.
2011, Souza
et al.
2012). Kim and Kim (2004) and Van den
Poel and Leunis (1999) concluded that providing a money-back guarantee for consumers
increases the likelihood of purchasing online. Consumers who are concerned about product
return difficulties are more likely to abort an online transaction (Cho 2004, Foscht
et al.
2013). In addition to
a money-back guarantee, buying products from a well-known online
store is another effective way to reduce product risk (Van den Poel and Leunis 1999,
Jarvenpaa
et al.
2000, McKnight
et al.
2002, Mark and Harris 2007, Lee
et al.
2011a). Other
studies investigated whether the reduced price would increase the likelihood of purchase
online (Van den Poel and Leunis 1999, Kim and Kim 2004),
and the results showed that
selling at a reduced price has a significant positive effect on consumers’ online shopping
intention with respect to the specific vendors. Moreover, a large volume of published studies
(Grewal and Dharwadkar 2002, Kim and Kim 2004, Mark and Harris 2007, Lee
et al.
2011a,
Tsai
et al.
2011, Ha and Stoel 2012) described the role of security and privacy measures on
online shopping adoption. The findings revealed that security and privacy protections reduce
46
risks of online shopping and increase the purchase intention of online customers. For example,
the presence of privacy policy improves consumers’ trust in
online vendor and further
increases their intention to purchase online (Lee
et al.
2011a) .
2.3.3.2 Online Store Features
In the online environment, customers interact with a retailer through its website, which is
essentially an information system (i.e., online store). Therefore,
the feature of this
information system play an important role in shaping the customer’s shopping experience
(Luo
et al.
2012). Previous studies examining the impacts of online store features on
consumer decision-making mainly derive from three research steams, namely information
content/quality, online store design and online store image (Mark and Harris 2007, Verhagen
and van Dolen 2009,
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