The impact of the product description on purchasing intention in cross- border e-commerce: evidence from vietnamese consumers

Abstract

Cross-border E-commerce (CBEC) has thrived and grown in recent years. Due to the more complicated interaction processes compared to domestic e-commerce, consumers experience more significant uncertainty. Despite the rapid development and expansion of CBEC into Vietnam, research on consumers' intentions remains scarce. This study employs the commitment-involvement theory, involvement theory and perceived trust based on the hierarchy-of-effects model to create a three-stage model assessing how product cognition affects purchase intention in CBEC. Data was collected from Shopee platform users. The analysis reveals that a high-quality product description significantly positively affects product involvement, platform involvement, and perceived trust (integrity and ability). Platform enduring involvement positively influences perceived trust (benevolence and ability), and platform situational involvement affects all three indicators of perceived trust. Interestingly, product involvement does not significantly impact purchase intention, but platform involvement does. Regarding perceived trust, ability and integrity do not significantly affect purchase intention, while benevolence does. This study highlights that although product descriptions may not directly influence purchase intention and perceived trust (benevolence), high-quality product descriptions play a vital role in attracting consumers and shaping their decisions on CBEC platforms. Therefore, optimizing descriptions can increase consumer engagement and trust.