Impact of Online Consumer Experience and Uncertainty Avoidance Towards Consumer Perception in Virtual Shopping: An Empirical Study in Karachi Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is one of the developing country of south Asia with a growing trend of Internet users, which stretch over 20 million and half of them, are opt to do the virtual shopping. The ability of purchasing without leaving place is of great importance to many consumers. This paper focused on the understanding of consumer perception of adopters and non-adopters of virtual shopping, In addition, cognitive dissonance theory was tested in this study. For this purpose data were collected from 384 students from three private universities of Karachi. The paper analysed the level of uncertainty avoidance in the cultural ground while consumer using virtual shopping. Factor analysis, correlation and multiple linear regression technique were used to analyze the hypotheses. The result of this study revealed that level of uncertainty avoidance and online consumer experience played a positive significant impact on consumer perception. Based on the results of the study, the level of uncertainty avoidance is considered vital impact on consumer perception. The study suggests benefits and convenience that consumers perceived with virtual shopping having unorthodox culture and how this can be improved to make better online consumer experience.

Keywords: Online Consumer Experiences, Uncertainty Avoidance, Consumer Perception, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use

JEL Classification: M00, M19, M39