Understanding the Antecedents and Consequences of Live Chat Use in Electronic Markets

Abstract

Online shopping has progressed from having consumers passively browse through the webpages of online stores to having them proactively engage in communication dialogues with the sellers themselves via live chat. Modern-day consumers can now directly contact online sellers and inquire about the products they intend to purchase through the live chat medium available in the webpages of online stores, such as Taobao.com. In this study, the conceptual framework of motivation, opportunity, and ability was extended to understand the antecedents of using live chat and to lengthen such an understanding on one's eventual intention to transact on the website from the trust-oriented perspective. A total of 222 online consumers of Taobao.com were surveyed, and their responses validated the proposed conceptual model and confirmed the research hypotheses. Results of the investigation indicated that perceived information asymmetry and fears of seller opportunism, encapsulated under motivation dimension, and perceived personal expertise, which manifests ability dimension, significantly influence the use of live chat by consumers. The results further demonstrated that live chat use positively affects the perceived interactivity of consumers, thereby increasing their intention to transact. The influence of live chat use on the perceived interactivity of consumers and its effect on one's intention to transact online are negatively moderated by the trust of consumers in a seller. The findings contribute to our understanding communication services for e-commerce in general and to the realization of real-time communication technology in particular.

The effects of two-way communication and chat service usage on consumer attitudes in the e-commerce retailing sector

“…Therefore, it is more relevant to study to what extent the use of chat service strengthens the relationship between two-way communication and its consequences. While previous research has found that the use of chat service is indirectly linked to positive outcomes through higher levels of interactivity (e.g., Kang et al, 2015;Ou et al, 2014;Song & Zinkhan, 2008), this study proposes that the use of chat service acts as a moderator between two-way communication and trust, satisfaction, and repurchase intention. Accordingly, the following hypotheses are formulated:…”

“…In line with this evidence, Ou et al (2014) find that the use of an instant messenger (similar to live chat) at an e-commerce store leads to positive consumer perceptions and behaviors (e.g., trust and repurchase intention) through consumers' interactivity perceptions. Kang et al (2015) find that the use of chat service increases the perceived interactivity of an e-commerce website, which is further linked to purchase intention. In sum, there is evidence that the use of chat service has positive impacts on two-way communication, which is linked to consumer attitudes.…”

“…As its second important contribution, the present study is the first to demonstrate the positive moderating effects of the use of chat service on the relationship between two-way communication and consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions. While previous research has shown that the use of chat service has positive indirect effects on consumer attitudes via interactivity perceptions (Kang et al, 2015;Ou et al, 2014;Song & Zinkhan, 2008), this study takes a novel approach and investigates the moderating effects of the use of chat service through the use of PLS-MGA. The results showed that the use of chat service significantly strengthens the direct effects of two-way communication on trust and satisfaction.…”

“…Contrary to offline shopping, online stores have traditionally lacked interaction between consumers and sellers, which has weakened the purchase intentions of the consumers (Jiang, Chan, Tan, & Chua, 2010;Kang, Wang, Tan, & Zhao, 2015). The emergence of chat services has provided customers with a tool that allows consumers to communicate with sales representatives in real time, and in that sense, to have a similar shopping experience to physical stores.…”

“…Academic research on chat services is currently limited, but a few studies have found that the use of online chat services increases customers' purchase intentions (Kang et al, 2015;Lv, Wang, & Huang, 2016). Lv et al (2016) explain that real-time communication between a buyer and a seller via a chat service reduces the buyer's uncertainty when making purchase decisions.…”