Online shopping well-being as a consequence of shopping value, trust and impulse buying: a duality approach

Abstract

How shopping contributes to shoppers’ quality of life has attracted much attention from researchers that results in the formation of the shopping well-being concept. In studying consumers’ shopping well-being, several factors, contexts, and theoretical frameworks are taken into consideration. Given that, there are some significant gaps in this research topic that need to be fulfilled. Specifically, although shopping values are the key factors influencing consumers’ attitude and behavior, how they impact trust attitude and impulse buying behavior in the online shopping context has not been clear. Besides, while online shopping well-being has rarely been explained by the dual processes from shopping value, trust and impulse buying. In addition, moderating effects of extraversion and self-control traits and differences across the online versus the offline shopping contexts are unexplored. In addressing these limitations, by adopting the duality approach, this research examines cognitive and affective associations between shopping values, trust and impulse buying that, in turn, determine consumers’ shopping well-being. In addition, the study also aims to test the moderating role of extraversion and self-control trait. Further, the study also compares the studied relationships across the online and offline shopping contexts. Two studies have been conducted in Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam by surveying 648 online consumers (study 1) and 529 online and offline consumers (study 2). The datasets were used to validate the measures by employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and test the proposed relationships among studied constructs by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The research results validated the dual associations between shopping values and trust, and between shopping values and impulse buying. Besides, the findings showed that shopping well-being is determined affectively by trust in the online shopping context and positively predicted by both cognitive and affective impulse buying. This helps to prove the positive consequence of impulse buying. In addition, moderating effects of extraversion and self-control traits were validated. Finally, similarities and differences between the online and the offline shopping contexts, in term of the studied associations, were clearly found. This study contributes to the literature by applying a duality approach to confirm the significant role of shopping values in determining trust and impulse buying that, in turn, positively predict shopping well-being. As a result, this study provides a deeper understanding about if and why online shopping well-being is more affect-based. This research also introduces an appropriate theoretical framework for studying impulse buying - the duality approach and validates the positive consequence of this shopping motive. In addition, the validated moderating role of extraversion and self-control contribute to a better understanding of consumers’ personalities. Further, the findings provide a clearer picture illustrating similarities and differences across the two shopping contexts. Thus, several significant implications can be contributed to academics and practitioners.