What Makes Customers Shop Online?

Abstract

Electronic commerce Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM) has emerged to be a fundamental research area as business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce is growing at a phenomenal rate. Among the many issues e-CRM concerns, one question is often asked, “what makes customers shop online?” Rich understanding of this issue will help an electronic store to become more competitive. A good number of studies have been conducted to answer this question. These studies seem to take diverse perspectives and investigate various aspects of the phenomena. Yet few studies have drawn coherent pictures of the collective understanding of the dynamics. The objective of this paper is to draw such a picture. To fit the advances in MIS theme, we conduct an analytical review on the IS literature on B2C online shopping behavior at individual level. A classification of research variables and a framework are developed to provide an overview of the state-of-the art of this area and to point out limitations and directions for future research. The results show that one’s online shopping intention, behavior, and satisfaction are significantly associated with one’s beliefs about/affective reactions to e-commerce/e-stores and attitudes toward online shopping behavior. In addition, external environment, demographics, personal characteristics, and e-store characteristics have significant impacts on customers’ shopping intention, behavior, and satisfaction. These impacts are either direct or mediated by beliefs, affect, and attitudes. For future research, common theoretical framework, widely-accepted instruments, and consistency in terminology are much needed to compare results across studies and to accumulate knowledge. We also call for more research effort in customer satisfaction and affective reactions since they have not been paid enough attention despite their fundamental roles in understanding customers’ online shopping phenomena.