Beyond Attitude: The Role of Trust in Explaining Online Consumer Buying Behaviour among Malaysia Young Adult.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/abrij.v12i2.12758Keywords:
Theory of Planned Behavior, Online Buying Behavior, E-commerce, Young AdultsAbstract
Digital technology and e-commerce environment has been significantly exposed especially among young adults in Malaysia, and it has been contributing to the rapid development of online shopping platforms which has also notably changed the purchasing behaviors of consumers. By applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) among young adults in the state of Selangor, Malaysia, the current study aims to identify the four variables that affect the purchasing behaviors of online consumers namely, consumer attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived trust. The general objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between consumer attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived trust, and online consumer buying behavior. Additionally, the objective is to determine which of the four independent variables is the strongest factors that influence online consumer buying behavior. The study participants comprised young adults (18-35 years old) who lived in the state of Selangor and had previously experienced the purchasing behaviors of online shopping. The participants received structured questionnaires to fill out the study and obtained 129 valid data for the analysis. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized to assess the relationships between the proposed variables. Conclusions drawn from the study revealed that online purchasing behavior is significantly related to consumer attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived trust, with perceived behavioral control being one of the strongest predictors. Taking everything into account, this study contributes to the knowledge of online consumer behavior in the online world. However, this study is limited to only young adults in Selangor and the use of a cross-sectional survey design, which may limit the applicability of the results. Future study should use more extensive demographic populations and continuous methodologies to strengthen the validity of the findings.
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