Investigating Cultural Differences, Risks, and Purchase intention in Cross-border e-commerce: A mixed- method analysis

Abstract

The shift from a product-centric approach to a customer-centric approach drives great demand for consumer behaviour and perception knowledge to promote the company’s performance. Especially in cross-border e-commerce (CBEC), firms need to understand consumer perception and behaviour to make suitable judgements. Despite the huge benefits of e-commerce and CBEC, negative aspects such as the risk associated with these shopping channels have also been important. Additionally, cultural values provide a solid theoretical foundation for comprehending consumer perception and behaviour under risks. Given the worldwide nature of online shopping, a solid understanding of why consumer perception and behaviour under risk vary across cultural values regarding CBEC should be critical. The literature on perceived risk in marketing has been growing during these decades. However, several theoretical and empirical gaps have been revealed. Accordingly, the theories and models explaining risk and consumer behaviour in e-commerce lack a comprehensive approach. Consequently, the factors of emotion and culture have not been frequently integrated to understand consumer behaviour in CBEC. To date, little empirical research examines all aspects of risk and the role of the individual-level cultural dimensions in e- commerce and CBEC. Two major motivations for this dissertation encompass investigating multiple aspects of risk (i.e., perceived risk and affective risk) in consumer decision-making, and the impact of individual-level cultural dimensions on purchase behaviour within CBEC platforms. Drawing on these motivations, three research questions are furnished such as: (1) Is perceived risk considered a multidimensional concept in CBEC? (2) what is the role of affective risk in the decision-making process? and (3) How do the individual-level cultural dimensions influence consumers’ risk perception and purchase intention in CBEC? These aim to identify the multifaced nature of risk and understand the mechanisms driving consumers' perceptions, emotions and purchase intentions under risks in e-commerce and CBEC. An explanatory sequential mixed-method approach was utilised in this research. Accordingly, the author combines a quantitative and qualitative approach (QUAN -> qual) to address these research questions. A total of 800 questionnaires from Vietnamese and Hungarian respondents were used for the quantitative phase with the analysis using composite-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test all the hypotheses. Then, 26 respondents were invited to return and engage in in-depth interviews (IDIs). The qualitative data was analysed using the content-analysis technique and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to dig deeper into the quantitative findings. This dissertation puts forth several findings. First, this research reveals that perceived risk in CBEC is a multidimensional construct comprising seven key sub-dimensions: fraud risk, delivery risk, financial risk, product risk, process and time loss risk, privacy risk, and information risk. These sub-dimensions strengthen the total perceived risk and diminish customers' purchase intentions in CBEC. Second, the research differentiates two aspects of risk in CBEC relying on consumers' perceptions and reactions towards risks, such as perceived risk (based on risk-as-analysis) and affective risk (based on risk-as-feelings). Additionally, the research also highlights the mediating role of affective risk in the pathway of how consumers progress from perceiving risks to arriving at behaviours (purchase intention) in CBEC. The third important finding is that individual-level cultural dimensions play a significantly crucial role in shaping consumer behaviour in CBEC. Accordingly, individual-level cultural dimensions such as uncertainty avoidance and collectivism moderate the effects among perceived risk, affective risk, and purchase intention. In other words, these cultural dimensions strengthen the negative impacts of perceived risk and affective risk on purchase intention in CBEC. Especially, by integrating fsQCA findings of the qualitative phase, this research emphasises the complex interaction of individual-level cultural dimensions, perceived risk, and affective risk to drive consumers' behavioural intentions in CBEC. From a theoretical standpoint, this research provides a multidimensional model of perceived risk in CBEC and identifies the multifaced nature of the risk in consumer perception. It also explains and consolidates the psychological process of consumers from perceiving and feeling risks to driving behavioural intentions. Further, by integrating the individual-level cultural dimensions, this research provides evidence that the cultural dimensions at the individual level are more effective in shaping consumer behaviour in CBEC rather than the national-level cultural dimensions. Additionally, individual-level cultural dimensions also interact in complicated ways, which enhances the heterogeneity in consumer segmentations in CBEC. The findings obtained from this research are also significant for e-commerce professionals and regulators who attempt to understand consumer behaviour, improve customer trust, and mitigate risks in e-commerce and CBEC.