Abstract:

A sample of 113 students responded to an online survey, in which they assessed the likelihood of engaging in the following online shopping tasks under a given set of conditions: product information search, price comparisons, and/or purchase. The results indicate students are more likely to utilize the Internet for all tasks when the product is experience type [(F (1, 112) =118.54, p=0.0000), (F (1, 112) =118.54, p=0.00000), (F (1, 112) =32.411, p=0.00000)]; to purchase familiar brands (F (1, 112) =35.273, p=0.00000); and conduct info search and compare prices when the item is expensive [(F (1, 112) =41.704, p=0.00000), (F (1, 112) =32.080, p=0.00000)]. Interactions present found price to have the greatest affect on the purchase likelihood for products that are (1) experience type (F (1, 112) =30.784, p=0.00000) and are (2) unfamiliar brands (F (1, 112) =5.1931, p=0.02457), and brand familiarity to have a more profound affect on purchase likelihood for experience products (F (1, 112) =5.0113, p=.02716).