Influence of consumers’ perceived risk on consumers’ online purchase intention

This paper aims to examine the relationship between six factors of consumers’ perceived risk and consumers’ online purchase intentions. In particular, this study will examine the relationship between financial risk, product risk, security risk, time risk, social risk and psychological risk and online purchase intention.

Survey method was used for the purpose of data collection, and quantitative analysis was used to test the hypotheses. A total of 350 respondents participated on an online survey, and data were quantitatively analyzed via IBM SPSS Statistics 24.

The findings from this study suggest consumers’ perceived risks when they intend to purchase online. Five factors of perceived risk have a significant negative influence on consumer online purchase intention, while social risk was found to be insignificant. Among these factors, security risk is the main contributor for consumers to deter from purchasing online.

This study provides useful information to online retailers in electronic commerce (e-commerce) activities. Previous studies show that many online retailers are still facing some risks in online business, and this will affect the transaction and performance of the retailers. It is hoped that the findings can help online retailers to formulate strategies to reduce risks in the online shopping environment, especially security risks for better e-commerce.

The development of online shopping has led to some challenges to consumers, which comprise security of payment, data protection, the validity and enforceability of e-contract, insufficient information disclosure, product quality and enforcement of rights. This issue emerged because many online retailers do not understand the main factors that will contribute to consumers’ perceived risk. Consumers’ perceived risks will influence consumer attitudes toward online shopping and purchase behaviors. Studies on consumers’ perceived risks toward online purchase intentions are still inconclusive. Thus, this paper fills the gap in the research area.