THE IMPACT OF E-SERVICESCAPE ON CONSUMERS’ ONLINE PURCHASE INTENTION TOWARDS ONLINE RETAIL WEBSITES IN SRI LANKA: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF WEBSITE TRUST

Abstract

E-servicescape is an imperative aspect for online retailers to build website trust and consumers’ online purchase intention. The purpose of this study is examining the impact of e-servicescape on consumers’ online purchase intention and the mediating effect of website trust on the relationship between e-servicescape and consumers’ online purchase intention. Furthermore, the quantitative research approach and explanatory research design were employed. An online questionnaire survey was used to distribute self-administrative questioners among 384 online consumers’ in Colombo District, Sri Lanka and 290 usable questionnaires were analyze using simple linear regression, multiple linear regression and Sobel test. The empirical results revealed that e-servicescape significantly and positively impact on the consumers’ online purchase intention (β=0.899; P=0.000) while website trust positively and significantly impacts on consumers’ online purchase intention (β=0.519; P=0.000) and website trust mediate relationship between e-servicescape and consumers’ online purchase intention (P=0.048). This research will add practical implications for online retailers in designing their websites. Thus, this study will enrich and contribute to knowledge in online shopping in general in Sri Lankan context. Furthermore, improve e-servicescape to building website trust and motivating consumers’ purchase intention.