Consumer internet purchasing behavior in Chile

a r t i c l e i n f o Despite the potential for e-commerce growth in Latin America, studies investigating factors that influence consumers' Internet purchasing behavior are very limited. This research addresses this limitation with a consumer centric study in Chile using the Theory of Reasoned Action. The study examines Chilean consumers' beliefs, perceptions of risk, and subjective norms about continued purchasing on the Internet. Findings show that consumers' attitude towards purchasing on the Internet is an influential factor on intentions to continue Internet purchasing. Additionally, compatibility and result demonstrability are influential factors on attitudes towards this behavior. The study contributes to the important area of technology post adoption behavior. Developed countries, such as the United States, and those in Europe, have embraced the Internet for commercial purposes and many organizations use the Internet as part of their multi-channel retail offering. For example, in 2010 US retail e-commerce sales are anticipated to increase by 12.7% to $152 billion, the largest gain in the last 2 years (Grau, 2010). Western Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, France and Germany, lead the world in retail e-commerce sales and this situation is anticipated to continue into 2012, surpassing $200 billion (von Abrams, 2010). However, in less developed countries, such as those in Latin America, companies' take up of e-commerce is much slower achieving fairly substantial increases in business to business (B2B) online transactions in recent years, the low level of business to consumer (B2C) transactions suggests that this area of e-commerce is still not well developed (Nasco, Grandón, et al., 2008). The limited growth of B2C e-commerce in this region is somewhat surprising given that the number of Internet users in Latin America increased 1997). There is also extensive research investigating consumer attitudes and behaviors related to making online purchases (e. However, studies that investigate what factors influence Latin American consumers' use of the Internet for commercial purposes are limited (Nasco, Grandón, et al., 2008). An important issue, then, is the selection of a theoretical framework to examine consumers' intentions to make Internet purchases. A number of theories of consumer acceptance of technology can be considered, many of which stem from Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action (TRA). This theory maintains that an individual's intentions towards a behavior are a direct function of attitudes and subjective norms or social influence. The theory of reasoned action was later extended to …