Effect of Interactivity Level and Price on Online Purchase Intention

As e-commerce approaches 17% of total retail sales companies are looking for opportunities to increase customer purchase conversion. In a competitive marketplace it becomes increasingly important to consider the effects of display techniques on purchase intention. Limited research has been conducted into interactivity, product display and their effect on purchase intentions on real-world retail websites, predominantly choosing to use random or student samples. This study investigates whether interactivity within retail websites positively correlates with purchase intentions for both low-cost and high-cost products and whether this effect is proportionally higher in high-cost products. It considers whether this purchase intention in high-cost products is influenced by higher levels of supplementary information. 405 participants experienced a simulated environment within a real-world retail website they had previously shopped at. Questionnaire results were analysed using ANCOVA and principal components analysis with three new components (purchase intention, attitude towards products and repeat product enjoyment) emerging. Results showed a higher purchase intention for more interactive products particularly more expensive ones. Interactive products produced a 54% higher purchase intention overall. In this paper, a new three-component solution to assess purchase intention for online home decor products is presented along with results which indicate that interactivity levels positively affect purchase intention for this particular product segment, particularly higher-cost products.