Factors Influencing Consumers' Attitudes Towards Online Purchase in Singapore 6

ABSTRACT : The purpose of this study is to examine whether the factors of price, convenience, trust, online word-of-mouth and previous experience, significantly influence consumers' attitude toward purchase intention in the rapid growing online shopping industry in Singapore. This research adopted a research model along with hypotheses to explore relationships among the variables, as well as differences in attitude and purchase intention of male and female shoppers. Quantitative research with an inductive approach was used in this study. The researcher conducted a survey questionnaire pre-test with a small sample of five college students enrolled in East Asia Institute of Management, and thereafter modified the questionnaire which was subsequently used for the actual survey. 180 college students in various universities in Singapore completed the questionnaire. 169 responses (89%) were valid. Analyses of the responses provided insights into consumers' attitude, feeling and intention toward online purchase. The researcher conducted the survey using Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) statistics and Cronbach Alpha test for data validity and reliability. A series of simple and multiple regression analyses indicated that all the influencing factors significantly explained consumers' attitude. The result also suggested the existence of positive relationships among all the factors. Trust emerged as the strongest influence of consumers' attitude, as well as for purchase intention. The result also suggested a significantly strong influence of previous experience directly on purchase intention. Furthermore, the researcher used independent sample t-tests and discovered that there was no gender difference in attitude and purchase intention despite a slightly higher intention and positive attitude toward online purchase for male. 56

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