The Influence of Social Presence on Online Purchase Intention: An Experiment with Different Product Types

Internet shopping is one of the fastest growing forms of shopping, however, many consumers search websites with the intention to purchase but then abandon the process before the sale has been concluded (Eastlick, Lotz, Shim & Warrington, 2001:398). General online sales figures have not increased as greatly as one would expect (Flavian & Guinaliu, 2006:602). Online social presence has been identified as a key influencing factor in online consumer behaviour. This study considers social presence, trust, perceived usefulness and privacy concerns as influencers on consumers’ online purchase intention. The contribution of this study lies in its investigation of the interplay between social presence and product type in its influence on online purchase intention and online trust. With an experimental design, we find that social presence has an influence on online purchase intention (OPI) and online trust, but that the relationship between social presence and OPI is moderated by the type of online product. This extended abstract first briefly addresses the background of the study, and the relevant hypotheses and conceptual model is provided. Thereafter the methodology is discussed and the findings of the PLS-SEM provided.