Online vs. In-Store Shopping: How Problem Solving Strategies of Decision Support Systems influence Confidence in Purchase Decisions

Several studies have investigated the relevance of Decision Support Systems (DSS) on purchase behaviour. Even though these studies show several aspects of the utility of DSS, they are limited to online purchase situations, the use of one decision making strategy and one DSS technology. In this paper, we therefore develop a theoretical model that measures the impact of DSS strategies relative to a given purchase problem and an adequate use of DSS technology on consumers’ perceived confidence in purchase decisions for both online and in-store purchase situations. Further, three mediating decision process variables are considered: perceived personalization of a DSS, perceived relevance of recommendations, and cognitive trust in DSS competence. As this paper represents a work in progress, the theoretical model has still to be tested empirically with regard to the proposed method. But as a result, we expect that the model not only allows evaluating different kinds of purchase-directed DSS but let researchers also draw conclusions on the appropriate use of technology and decision strategies of one individual DSS, which in turn has practical implications for the design of DSS-enabled future shopping environments.