Why Do Iranians Avoid Shopping on the Internet?

Why Do Iranians Avoid Shopping on the Internet?

Payam Hanafizadeh (Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran), Mehdi Behboudi (Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran), Maryam Asghari Ilani (Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran) and Ramineh Kalhor (Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, Qazvin, Iran)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/ijom.2012040104

Abstract

Iran is becoming an appropriate country for selling Internet-based products. Evidence illustrates an inverse trend and avoidance in this regard. This study was designed to provide some insights into why Iranians avoid shopping on the Internet. The recent rapid increase in the number of Iranian users (almost 34 million) and low desire to buy from online retailers make it imperative to study various variables affecting this avoidance from online shopping. This study builds a comprehensive theoretical model. The authors examined seven latent variables including: lack of information intermediary, lack of electronic guarantee, lack of electronic reputation, technological and knowledge weakness, lack of interaction, lack of trust, and avoidance from online shopping. In this regard, structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used to specify the model and validate which construct of the proposed model plays the most critical role. The authors found that these constructs successfully explain why Iranians avoid shopping on the Internet. “Lack of electronic guarantee” is found to be the most significance antecedent explaining avoidance of Internet shopping.
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Literature Review

Researchers mention two main factors for shopping: shopping for hedonic and goal-directed shopping (utilitarian) (Babin et al., 1994). These two factors are also true for internet shopping (Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2001). Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2001) found that two kinds of behaviour can be identified in customers; experience-based behaviour, when people shop for hedonic and entertainment and mostly decide on emotions, and goal-oriented behaviour when the people act rationally and decide on the basis of knowledge. This group prefers online shopping for three motives: convenience (Ratchford et al., 2001), selection and the ability to control the shopping (Evans & Wurster, 1999), and informativeness. Ha and Stoel (2008) proposed that the requirements of online shopping like privacy, security, website design, customer service, and shopping experience are the main factor forming perceptions of ease of use and benefits of e-commerce. In addition, some dissonance factors exist in online shopping that are not found in traditional commerce; for example, security and privacy concerns, lack of salesperson advice, or the inability to touch, smell, taste (Hanafizadeh & Behboudi, 2012), and see the product are factors that increase shopping risk.

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