Article: The impact of transaction costs on consumer behaviour in online business: empirical findings from China Journal: International Journal of Business Information Systems (IJBIS) 2026 Vol.52 No.8 pp.1 - 20 Abstract: A wealth of literature exists on the analysis of transaction costs in the field of economics, which has emerged as a dominant theoretical foundation for institutional and organisational economics. Despite its prominence, the role of transaction costs in understanding consumer behaviour in online business remains underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by examining how perceived transaction cost efficiency and perceived value directly influence online purchase intention among Chinese cosmetics consumers. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted among 455 online consumers in China, and data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that perceived transaction cost efficiency has a statistically significant positive effect on online purchase intention, whereas perceived value exhibits a negative but non-significant relationship with online purchase intention. These results suggest that perceived transaction cost efficiency is a more salient driver of online purchase decisions than perceived value in China's cosmetics e-commerce market. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: The impact of transaction costs on consumer behaviour in online business: empirical findings from China

Authors: Yi Zhang; Fumitaka Furuoka; Sheue Li Ong; Elayaraja Aruchunan

Addresses: Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: A wealth of literature exists on the analysis of transaction costs in the field of economics, which has emerged as a dominant theoretical foundation for institutional and organisational economics. Despite its prominence, the role of transaction costs in understanding consumer behaviour in online business remains underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by examining how perceived transaction cost efficiency and perceived value directly influence online purchase intention among Chinese cosmetics consumers. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted among 455 online consumers in China, and data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that perceived transaction cost efficiency has a statistically significant positive effect on online purchase intention, whereas perceived value exhibits a negative but non-significant relationship with online purchase intention. These results suggest that perceived transaction cost efficiency is a more salient driver of online purchase decisions than perceived value in China's cosmetics e-commerce market.

Keywords: online business; transaction costs; consumer behaviour; cosmetics; China.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2026.155936

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2026 Vol.52 No.8, pp.1 - 20

Received: 12 Sep 2025
Accepted: 18 Jun 2026
Published online: 26 Aug 2026 *

Title: The impact of transaction costs on consumer behaviour in online business: empirical findings from China

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