Antecedents of customer behavioural intentions for online grocery shopping in Malta

Abstract

This study looks at the antecedents of local consumers’ behavioural intentions to shop for groceries online. The theory of planned behaviour, developed by Ajzen (1991), has been utilized. Additionally, the theory of planned behaviour has been augmented with two additional variables, perceived consequences and personal innovativeness, adopted from Limayem et al (2000). This study has accounted for both reflective and formative indicators. The analysis chapter has been divided into two main section. In the first section, all of the indicators have been treated as reflective and appropriate reliability and validity analysis have been conducted. These were then followed by multiple hierarchal regressions. These analysis concluded that the theory of planned behaviour is an adequate model for predicting behavioural intention. Furthermore, the additional variables were not significant predictors of behavioural intention. However, it was found that the effects of these variables was being mediated by attitude. In the second part of the analysis, some of the indicators have been treated as formative. This section analysed the antecedents of behavioural intention through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results from this analysis were very similar to the hierarchal multiple regressions and the same conclusions were derived. Moreover, by analysing the weights of the formative indicators it became evident that the perceived behavioural control of local consumers is highly influenced by the difficulty in finding products online and by the difficulty in receiving products bought from local online grocery stores. Furthermore the practical implications of the findings are discussed.