Consumers' goal-directed behavior of purchasing sportswear products online A case study of Chinese consumers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese consumers' behavioral intention to purchase sportswear products online, by applying the model of goal-directed behavior as a research framework. Design/methodology/approach - An online survey was administered to Chinese consumers (N = 475) who have purchased sportswear products online in the past. Using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a partial least squares modeling analysis was conducted on the data. Findings - When it comes to influencing the average Chinese consumer's desire to purchase a product online, the study indicates that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and positive anticipated emotion are significant factors. Moreover, desire and frequency of past behavior significantly influenced Chinese consumers' intention to buy sportswear products online. Originality/value - The findings of this study provide a better understanding, through the analyses of Chinese consumers' decision-making processes, of consumer intention to purchase sportswear products online.