Over the past decade, B2C e-commerce has flourished and enjoyed a growth rate unrivaled by the traditional retail business. This study is meant to contribute to the underdeveloped area of traits study concerning online shoppers. Specifically, the hierarchical trait theory of the 3M Model is applied as the theoretical foundation of the research. SEM was employed to analyze the relationships between research constructs. Major findings include: (1) all five middle level traits, i.e. Innovativeness, Need for Cognition, Trust, Value Consciousness, and Buying Impulsiveness are related to Online Purchase Intention, (2) The Elemental Traits of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Need for Arousal, and Need for Material are related to one or two middle level traits respectively. Moreover, this study empirically validated the Four-level Traits Hierarchical Model and demonstrated that traits can be the driving force behind human motivation and intention.

Abstract-The hierarchical relationships of personality traits related to online buying impulsiveness were empirically examined. The results show that three elemental traitsagreeableness, need for arousal, and need for material -are predictive of online buying impulsiveness. Middle level trait of value consciousness is mediating the effect of conscientiousness and negatively associated with the dependent variable. Index Terms-Online buying impulsiveness, trait theory, 3M model I. INTRODUCTIONOver the past decade, e-commerce has flourished and enjoyed a growth rate unrivaled by the traditional retail business. According to a report released by Taiwan"s Institute for Information Industry, domestic e-commerce reached NT$ 365 billion in 2012, a growth rate of 28.5% compared to the revenue of previous year. As more and more consumers turn to the Web as an indispensable source of price and products/brands information, the future of e-commerce seems even more promising. Therefore, studies on consumer behavior online are of great importance for both academic and practical researches.One of the underdeveloped areas in online consumer research is impulse buying behavior. It is widely accepted that rational shopping model could not explain the whole spectrum of people"s shopping motivations. In a more enjoyable shopping environment and with increased disposal incomes, consumers tend to shop more impulsively [1]. Moreover, impulse buying would be higher online compared to store shopping due to the normal evaluations of consumers are less of an inhibited factor [2].As to the determinants of consumers" online behavior, demographics variables and more mutable personal factors like individual attitudes and personal perceptions have been frequently studied, personality variables like traits, on the other hand, have been under-investigated [3]. Since personality studies have long been an important research tool for examining human behavior [4] and trait-factor theory became the primary basis of marketing personality research [5], some personality traits related to online buying impulsiveness will be examined in this study.The hierarchical approach will be employed in this research, which means, personality traits are interrelated hierarchically and classified by the degree to which they pervade behavior [6]. Traits of variety seeking and value consciousness are proposed to be two of the antecedents of Manuscript received November 10, 2013; revised January 9, 2014. Tsai Chen is with the Department of Communication, Fo Guang University, Yilan County, ROC (e-mail: tchen@mail.fgu.edu.tw).Ming Chang Lee is with the Department of Management, Fo Guang University, Yilan County, ROC (e-mail: lmj0055@gmail.com).online buying impulsiveness in the study. At the same time, the relationships between the two traits and more "broad" personality dispositions will be also subjected to empirical test. II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES A. Trait HierarchyA trait is a temporally stable, cross-situational individual difference. Personality trai...