Individuals in modern society are hard-pressed to be physically present in each and every instance. Social media made their lives easier in this regard. So, virtual interaction, if can be effective, then those individuals (on-line purchaser) may be pushed up to the threshold level of their psychology (purchase intention) to purchase on-line their desired product. In this context, the research problem is stated as "can the on-line purchase intention be driven by virtual buyer-seller interaction?" The broad objective of the study is to analyze the relationship between 'virtual buyer-seller interaction' and 'online purchase intention' through Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) along their respective drivers. Qualitative research is the base of this study, where literatures on various empirical and theoretical research works or studies are logically related by the authors of this study to arrive at a structural model, which is developed through Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). Major Findings of this study refers that virtual buyer-seller interaction with certain level effectiveness, is justified to have meaningful impact on online purchase intention having factors like customers' engagement, perceived value, and attitude towards on-line shopping action at the level-II of the ISM. Driving factors, dependency factors, and linkage cluster is explored clearly in this study. So far as originality / contribution are concerned, virtual buyer-seller interaction is explored to be a meaningful driver of online purchase intention. Additional originality is that three parallel mediators can be justified between the above said relationships through future empirical studies, which are developed through ISM in the current study.
INTRODUCTION:Individuals in modern society are hard-pressed to be physically present in each and every instance that is needed for their lives. Social media play a vital role in providing a space in their mind for the virtual interactions between seller and buyers. If these interactions can be effective, then those individuals (here after, on-line purchaser) may be pushed up to the threshold level of their psychology (here after, purchase intention) to purchase online their desired product. It is not so simple to describe the relationships between the buyers and sellers in the modern marketing scenario; it is even more complex in the online marketing or purchasing actions. So far as behavioral intentions are concerned, some more psychological aspects may appear between the buyers' actions and sellers' actions. In these line of thoughts, if the literatures will be searched, then some important variables can be identified such attitude, value, customers' involvement, some such other variables may appear with the relationships between buyers' behavioral intentions and the typical connection of buyer with seller. Thus, it is very important in the strategic point view that the buyer-seller relationships need to be connected with purchase intention for online purchase actions. In this background, resea...