Information available on a web site: effects on consumers' shopping outcomes

Purpose – This research aims to examine how the amount of information provided on a web site affects consumers' perceived risk, satisfaction, intention to revisit, and purchase intent. Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample of 220 female college students participated in an online experiment. Confirmatory factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and structural equation modeling were conducted. Findings – Significant main effects were found for amount of information on consumers' perceived risk and satisfaction; significant causal relationships were found among perceived risk, satisfaction, intention to revisit, and purchase intent. Research limitations/implications – Generalizing the findings of the study is limited by the use of only female college student participants and the use of a single type of online retailing. Therefore, future research should consider varied samples and a variety of types of online retail settings to generalize the findings. Practical implications – The study demonstrates the effect of amount of information on consumers' online shopping behaviors. To reduce risk perception and impact positive consumer shopping behaviors, online retailers should pay attention to the amount of information available on their web sites. Originality/value – The study provides valuable practical insights to online retailers and academic researchers by suggesting the importance of providing sufficient amounts of information on a web site.