Shipping and Return Shipping Prices and Online Purchase Intentions: The Role of Gender and Product Price Category

Given the nature of online retail transactions, shipping becomes an integral factor in seller pricing and consumer buying decisions. This study examines the role of shipping and return shipping prices on consumer intentions to purchase goods in the e-commerce market. It also provides evidence on how gender and product price category moderate the relationship between shipping prices, return shipping prices, and purchase intentions. Data was collected from respondents in the United States. The results show that both the shipping price and the return shipping price negatively affect consumer purchase intentions. The study finds that the initial shipping price negatively impacts purchase intentions more for inexpensive product categories, whereas return shipping price negatively affects purchase intentions more for expensive products. Women are found to be more sensitive to initial shipping prices than men, whereas men are more sensitive to return shipping, but only for the expensive product category. The study makes a unique contribution by examining how shipping prices and return shipping prices affect consumers' initial purchase intentions, and the role gender plays in that relationship.