Online Retail Format Choice Behavior of Indian Customers for Reasoned Purchase: A Cultural Perspective

This study attempts to understand online retail format choice behavior of Indians through cultural dimension of individualism-collectivism. Extended reasoned action model of Fishbein and Ajzen was used to explain the behavior. Owing to collectivist nature of Indian culture, effect of perceived risk, perceived norms, and perceived behavior control on customer attitude were examined by analyzing 615 Indian customers through multianalytic techniques of structural equation modeling and neural network. The results confirmed their role in attitude formation, with perceived norm revealed as dominant predictor of attitude and intention. This highlighted the pivotal role of normative pressure on consumer behavior in collectivist cultures, which is unlike individualist cultures that are governed by personal attitude.