Understanding consumer online shopping behaviour from the perspective of transaction costs

Figure 3.2 The Antecedents of Consumer TCs of online Shopping 
Control Variables:
Age, Gender, Income, and 
Education Level
Next, consumer TCs of online shopping, the central variable in the model, is proposed as a 
factor which has influence on a customer’s actual online purchase behaviour and his/her 
loyalty toward an online store (see Figure 3.3). The online purchase behaviour examines the 
amount of products a customer actually purchased from an online store and the amount of 
times of the transaction with the online store within a particular period. It captures the real 
purchase transaction with a specific online store. Customer loyalty represents a customer’s 
H1a: 
−
H1b: 
−
H1c: 
−
H2a: +
H2b: 
−
H2c: 
−
H2d: 
−
H3a: 
−
H3b: +
H3c: +
Environmental 
Uncertainty 
Internet Access 
Availability
Perceived Internet 
Expertise 
Privacy and 
Security 
Concerns 
Product Quality 
Concern 
Online Buying 
Frequency
Site 
Design 
E-Service 
Quality 
Reputation of 
Online Store
Perceived 
convenience 
Perceived Consumer 
TCs of Online 
Shopping 

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favourable attitude toward an online store that results in repeat purchase intentions toward the 
online store and recommendation to other consumers. This variable is used to capture a 
customer’s relational continuance with the online store and it involves a deeper relationship 
as well as more risks. Previous research indicate that there are many factors that can affect 
consumers’ online shopping behaviour, by synthesizing these factors and finding out the 
underlying rationale, the conceptual model adopts the mechanism of TCs to explain 
consumers’ actual online purchase behaviour and their loyalty based on TCT.