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Decision making in online auctions

Yi‐Chun Huang (Department of Business Administration, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
Yen‐Chun Jim Wu (Department of Business Management, National Sun Yat‐Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
Yu‐Chun Wang (Department of Applied Foreign Languages, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
Nolan Christopher Boulanger (Department of Business Management, National Sun Yat‐Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan)

Management Decision

ISSN: 0025-1747

Article publication date: 31 May 2011

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to draw on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and attempt to identify the factors influencing the customer decision to purchase via online auctions, focusing on how managers selling via online auctions can modify product positioning and promotion decisions in order to make their offerings more congruent with these factors.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed a survey instrument to collect data from Yahoo!Kimo website consumers in Taiwan, obtaining 450 samples which were analyzed with structural equation modeling.

Findings

Attitude toward online auctions, perceived behavioral control and past related experiences significantly and positively influence the intention to purchase on online auctions, whereas subjective norm does not have such influence. Additionally, past related experiences have a positive effect on perceived behavioral control.

Research limitations/implications

There has been a relative dearth of work on online auction customer behavior. By applying the TPB to online auction research, it was empirically supported that behavioral intention to purchase via online auctions is determined by attitude and perceived behavior control. Past related experiences were further integrated, discovering that they can strengthen perceived behavioral control.

Practical implications

Recommendations are put forward in order to help better align product positioning and promotion decisions in online auctions with customer attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and past related experiences. These constructs may also be capable of explaining employee actions in general managerial contexts, thus extending the contribution of the paper beyond the limited world of online auctions.

Originality/value

This study integrated online auctions, the theory of planned behavior and consumer decision‐making philosophies in order to develop and empirically test a theoretical framework of consumer decision making in online auctions.

Keywords

Citation

Huang, Y., Jim Wu, Y., Wang, Y. and Boulanger, N.C. (2011), "Decision making in online auctions", Management Decision, Vol. 49 No. 5, pp. 784-800. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741111130850

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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