Title: The influence of social communication networks on intentions to purchase on the web

Authors: Lynda Fitzgerald

Addresses: School of Business, Colin Clark Building, University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Abstract: Despite the increased offering of online communication channels to support web-based retail systems, there is limited marketing research that investigates how these channels act singly, or in combination with offline channels, to influence an individual|s intention to purchase online. If the marketer|s strategy is to encourage online transactions, this requires a focus on consumer acceptance of the web-based transaction technology, rather than the purchase of the products per se. The exploratory study reported in this paper examines normative influences from referent groups in an individual|s on and offline social communication networks that might affect their intention to use online transaction facilities. The findings suggest that for non-adopters, there is no normative influence from referents in either network. For adopters, one online and one offline referent norm positively influenced this group|s intentions to use online transaction facilities. The implications of these findings are discussed together with future research directions.

Keywords: online purchasing; social communication networks; normative influences; integrated marketing communications.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2004.004017

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2004 Vol.1 No.2, pp.137 - 154

Published online: 10 May 2004 *

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