Abstract
The negative influence of consumer perceived product uncertainty on buying intention has long been found and studied by marketing researchers and practitioners. Identifying uncertainty mitigators hence has drawn extensive attention from traditional and digital market researchers. This study extends this line of study by exploring the effect of various e-commerce website facilities from a novel perspective – the communication theory view. Drawing on the Initial Interaction Theory (IIT) from communication literature, we view buyer-seller interactions as an initial communication process that aims to acquire information in order to reduce description uncertainty and performance uncertainty. In line with IIT, we propose a framework that incorporates perceived effectiveness of product descriptions, perceived media richness, and perceived effectiveness of feedback systems as the facilitators of passive, interac-tive, and active communication strategies in order to reduce product uncertainty. Research hypotheses are tested based on a survey of 325 subjects. Our findings confirm the saliency of these facilitators in mitigating buyer perceived uncertainty towards tourism products. Theoretical and practical implica-tions of the findings are discussed.
Recommended Citation
TANG, Heng and LIN, Xiaowan, "INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATION FACILITATORS FOR THE REDUCTION OF EXPERIENCE PRODUCTS UNCERTAINTY IN E-MARKETPLACES – THE INITIAL INTERACTION PERSPECTIVE" (2016). PACIS 2016 Proceedings. 335.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2016/335