Value-Driven Internet Shopping: The Mental Accounting Theory Perspective

When faced with competition and the ease with which customers can compare prices across sellers, Internet vendors often lower prices in a bid to increase sales. However, recent research reports that even price-sensitive customers do not always purchase from Internet vendors offering the lowest prices. In contrast, value has been considered a key motivator of customer decision making in economics and marketing. However, little is known about the role and effect of value in Internet shopping. This study examines online customer purchase decision making from the value perspective based on mental accounting theory. This study also identifies monetary (perceived price) and non-monetary (perceived risk, convenience, and pleasure) determinants of value. This study further explains how the individual determinants affect online purchase decision making directly and indirectly though value perception. The findings of this study offer Internet vendors practical suggestions for increasing online sales. This study, with its results, also helps advance knowledge of electronic commerce. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.