Review of Related Literature and Studies

The prevalence of Information and Communication Technology, or ICT, indeed makes the

lives of everyone easier. The development of web technologies is a factor for individuals to

experience convenience in this day and age (Niu, 2013). Also, the communication process

became faster due to the progression of ICT. People use internet for functional purposes such as

to obtain information, socialize, entertain, connect, shop, and/or even to engage with

businesses online. Moreover, the development of internet media provides a mounting

possibility for the world of E-commerce (Delafrooz, 2009). Today, electronic commerce, or E-

commerce, is one of the hottest trends. It is the term used for electronic commerce that means

engaging with transactions online through the use of electronic systems.

Online shopping seems to be a huge trend in the world (Zhao, 2015). Unlike before, e-

commerce gives people an opportunity not to exert too much effort on purchasing their needs

and wants. By means of E-commerce, dealings and transactions do not necessarily need to be

done physically and could be successfully completed over the internet. Through simply surfing

or browsing over the internet, online transactions are made possible.

Purchase intention refers to a mental state that reflects the consumer’s decision to acquire a

product or service in the immediate future (Howard, in Alcañiz et al. 2008). In the context of

virtual shopping, this would be the decision to use the internet as a new shopping channel

(Alcañiz et al. 2008). Vijayasarathy (2002) said that shopping, which includes purchase, also

encompasses the acts of browsing, comparing, evaluating and decision making.

Brand/fashion consciousness is a tendency of consumers to be oriented on brand name or

fashion trends. Seock and Bailey (2008) found that brand/fashion consciousness was

significantly and positively related to both information searches and purchases online.

Consumers with brand/fashion consciousness may visit apparel websites to check the latest

styles and new fashion trends. If they find the products they like, they may purchase those

items online.

H1: Brand/fashion consciousness has a positive effect on intention to shop for fashion products

online.

Price consciousness is a tendency of consumers to be oriented on price when shopping for

clothes. Seock and Bailey (2008) found that price consciousness was positively related to

information searches online, but negatively related to the purchases of apparel items online.

Consumers with price consciousness are concerned about price and, therefore, pay a great deal

of attention to apparel prices. Consumers with price consciousness may visit: iternet web sites

to find out about sales or promotional deals or to compare prices from different companies’

websites. Similar to that result, Vijayasarathy (2003) found that this orientation was significantly

and positively influencing internet shopping intention.

H2: Price consciousness has a positive effect on intention to shop for fashion products online.

Buyers are unlikely to engage in online shopping without sufficient trust toward the seller

(Hoffman, McWilliams and Saveri, 1999). Gefen, Karahanna and Straub (2003) also

acknowledged that consumers with repeat purchases often possess more trust towards the

seller, and perceive the website to be more useful. Thus, trust is crucial during online business
transactions, which is regarded as the foundation of trade. If the online seller is trustable,

perceived usefulness will occur (Festinger, 1975). Previous findings suggested that the

continuance intention to purchase of consumer is influenced by trust. It is found that the level

of customer’s trust is affected by perceived usefulness (Eriksson, Kerem and Nilsson, 2005).

However, some researchers disagree that trust will affect the purchase intention of consumer.

The more experience consumers have on purchasing online, the lower the risk, therefore the

higher tendency of participating in online purchases (Miyazaki and Fernandez, 2001). Moreover,

Ganesan (1994) has stated that sellers are more trustworthy among customers, when they are

perceived to have the ability to deliver what have been promised. Therefore, trust will occur if

the website is found to be useful. Çelik and Yilmaz (2011) have found that the impact of trust on

perceived usefulness is rejected. To provide further empirical evidence, first hypothesis for the

study is developed as follow:

H3: Trust is positively related to perceived usefulness.

Based on previous researches (Davis et al., 1989; Venkatesh, 2000), the most consistent variable

to test for continuance intention is perceived usefulness. Additionally, positive relationship

between perceived usefulness and enjoyment is presented (Davis et al., 1989). Moreover, Al-

Maghrabi and Dennis, (2011) has posited that a useful website is often used, further being

introduced to friends and family. Thus, usefulness is considered as an influential tool to improve

social influences on user’s intention towards continuance of purchase on the internet. Although

the importance of friends may not be affected, perceived usefulness do have a high chance on

encouraging current users to spread the word-of-mouth, which leads to an increase in

intentions of continuance. Childers et al., (2001) has found out that perceived usefulness is an

important factor for online shopping, following the utilitarian benefit for consumers to engage

in online shopping. The attitudes of consumer will also influence the website’s usefulness and

truthfulness in providing information; users may then recommend the website to others if they

consider it to be useful (Bhattacherjee, 2001b). However, there are studies on technology

acceptance model (TAM) between perceived usefulness and consumer’s intention that are not

significant (Gefen and Straub, 2000; Hassanein and Head, 2007). As such, there is a need to

investigate the relationship between perceived usefulness and continuance intention further,

with the second hypothesis as follow:

H4: Perceived usefulness is positively related to increasing customer continuance intention to

purchase online.

. This study aims to establish a preliminary assessment, evaluation and understanding of the

characteristics of online shopping in Malaysia. The Chi-squire test was used to determine the

relationship between current online shoppers and demographic variables. Samples t-test was

then used to compare the mean differences between current online shoppers and non-online

shoppers. Then, correlation coefficient matrix was employed to determine the degree of

correlation between future online shopping and issues concerning online shopping. The study

revealed that online shopping in Malaysia is significantly associated with the Chinese ethnic

group, university degree holders and credit cards or chequebooks owners. The results also

indicated a significant mean difference between online shoppers and non-online shoppers in

gathering product information and comparing price of goods and services before a purchase
decision. Results also indicate that this group of non-online shoppers constitutes more than 60%

of the total number of online consumers in Malaysia, implying a huge potential of online

shopping to online retailers. In conclusion, online consumers in Malaysia still lack confidence

and trust in utilizing the Internet as a shopping channel. They are mainly concerned about

issues related to privacy and trust when dealing with online retailers. These issues, if left

unchecked, will have a detrimental effect on the future growth of online shopping in Malaysia.