Toward an Integrated Framework for Online Consumer Behavior and Decision Making Process: A Review

This paper presents a comprehensive review of recent empirical studies dealing with online consumer behavior and decision-making processes. To that end, the paper adapts and extends Engel, Kollat, and Blackwell's (1978) and Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard's (1986) decision-making model as backdrop in the review of the literature. The vast majority of studies examine the link between external factors and one or more components of the decision-making process. The findings of this study show a paucity of research on a number of components of decision making, as well as inconsistencies in the way the online environment is characterized. Finally, the findings show that student samples are prevalent among the studies identified and the research method is biased toward the survey method as opposed to experimentation. Discussion and conclusions are provided, and directions for future research are presented. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.