Abstract

This research describes consumer intentions to adopt e-commerce by predicting behavioral intentions to use Internet technologies for online transactions, drawing upon Ajzen’s (1985, 1988, 1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB). Consumer intention to adopt e-commerce is proposed as a behavioral intention to exchange information online, share confidential and monetary information, and engage in product purchases. Drawing upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), since online transactions entail consumers to use Internet technologies to a great extent, e-commerce adoption intentions essentially necessitate that consumers perceive Web interfaces to be useful and easy to use. In addition, the novel and impersonal nature of online transactions and the technological unpredictability of the Internet reduce consumer perceptions of control over their online transactions, making trust and risk beliefs inevitable elements of online consumer behavior. This research incorporates the constructs of trust and perceived risk with TAM major constructs to predict e-commerce adoption intentions, following TPB. Consequently, a set of testable hypotheses that interrelate intentions to transact online with perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, and trust is proposed. The resulting research model is validated using data from three exploratory experiential studies with 103 subjects using three different scenarios. The results give substantial support for the proposed hypotheses, while explaining 64% of the variation for consumer intentions to adopt e-commerce. The paper discusses several insights from this exploratory study, proposes several future research directions, and concludes with implications for theory and research.

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