Anissa Negra and Mohamed Nabil Mzoughi
Online purchases might be delayed. In some cases, this postponement could be a privileged, an adequate, or an efficient strategy. Online consumer procrastination is the voluntary…
Abstract
Purpose
Online purchases might be delayed. In some cases, this postponement could be a privileged, an adequate, or an efficient strategy. Online consumer procrastination is the voluntary and rational delay of a planned online purchase. The purpose of this research is to develop a measure of this behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
The Churchill's paradigm adapted by Roehrich was adopted. A total of 77 items were generated from 27 interviews. This set of items was reduced to 23 after dropping out redundant or not representative items. In a pilot study, factor analysis on the 23‐item scale yielded a two‐factor structure scale of five items with a reliability ranging from 0.715 to 0.809. The Online Consumer Procrastination Scale (OCPS) was statistically confirmed and validated, in a subsequent investigation.
Findings
Findings revealed a reliable and valid five‐item scale. Its dimensions are online deal‐proneness and online rationality.
Research limitations/implications
This research allows a better conceptualization of the online consumer procrastination. Future research should assess the OCPS validity across different product categories.
Practical implications
OCPS will make easier the recognition of e‐shoppers who delay the achievement of online purchase intentions.
Originality/value
OCPS is the first scale measuring the reasonable delay in an online purchase context.