How does putting an item in a shopping cart/on a wish list influence online shopping behavior?

Abstract

This thesis explores reasons for a phenomenon that has been perplexing online retailers but has received scant attention from scholars: online shopping cart abandonment. At the present time, abandonment rates are very high and represent a threat to e-businesses since they could mean the difference between selling and not selling. The objectives of this research are to study, by means of an experiment, how the placement of items in a shopping cart/on a wish list impacts consumers’ online shopping intentions. It was hypothesized that, the longer an item stays in the shopping cart/on the wish list, the less it is desired, as a result of increased conceptual consumption. This mediation of conceptual consumption is central to this research. The experiment consists of two phases. The first phase entails a first survey, which included the between-participants manipulation of type of action (i.e. shopping cart, wish list and control). The second phase consists of a second survey, 3 days and 7 days after the first survey, where desire and conceptual consumption are measured. Overall, no significant mediation effect was found for conceptual consumption in this experimental setting. However, the results suggest that conceptual consumption is a good predictor of desire, although in the opposite direction from what was hypothesized. Moreover, no significant interaction effects were found between the different treatment conditions (i.e. time and action). Despite the extant limitations (e.g. sample size, methodology), this thesis has contributed with relevant insights which could help when e-retailers fight against online shopping cart abandonment.

Date of Award	12 Sept 2012
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nicole L. Mead (Supervisor)