Online Purchase Delay: The Roles of Online Consumer Experiences

In this study, four types of online consumer experiences (OCEs) were developed to ameliorate the negative outcomes of purchase delay during online purchasing: low human-message interactivity (HMI) involving low human-human interactivity (HHI; HMIL-HHIL), high HMI involving low HHI (HMIH-HHIL), low HMI involving high HHI (HMIL-HHIH), and high HMI involving high HHI (HMIH-HHIH). This study comprised three experiments (pilot study, Study 1, and Study 2), in which 987 online shoppers participated (80 in pilot study; 187 in Study 1; 720 in Study 2). The results indicated that consumers who delay an online purchase might soon experience heightened purchase intention because of subsequent positive OCEs. Desire for control (DC) and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII) moderate the effects of OCEs on purchase intention; consumers who exhibit low levels of DC and CSII prefer HMIL-HHIL, consumers who exhibit high DC and low CSII levels prefer HMIH-HHIL, consumers who exhibit low DC and high CSII levels prefer HMIL-HHIH, and consumers who exhibit high DC and CSII levels prefer HMIH-HHIH.