Several opinion polls have found that many consumers resist making purchases via the Internet because of their concerns about the privacy of the personal information they provide to Internet merchants. Using the theory of planned behavior as its basis, this study investigated the relationships among beliefs about Internet privacy and trustworthiness, along with beliefs about perceived behavioral control and the expectations of important others, and online purchasing behavior. Data were collected from 193 college students. Analysis of the data indicates that beliefs about trustworthiness positively affect attitudes toward buying online, which in turn positively affect purchasing behavior. Beliefs about self-efficacy regarding purchasing positively affect perceived behavioral control, which in turn affects online purchasing behavior. In short, respondents who believed in the trustworthiness of the Internet and in their own abilities to buy online were more likely to make Internet purchases than were those without such beliefs.
Using the theory of planned behavior as the theoretical base, data collected through a semi‐annual survey of Web users were used to determine if beliefs about privacy and Internet trustworthiness helped determine attitudes towards the Internet, which were thought to affect intent to make Internet purchases. Intent, in turn, was thought to affect actual purchasing behavior. Taking Internet experience into account, general support for the model was found.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.