Relationship between intangibility and perceived risk: moderating effect of privacy, system security and general security concerns

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the association between intangibility and perceived risk using a sample of North American households. This relationship is explored within two purchase environments, namely online and offline. The authors also investigated the moderating effects of privacy, system security and general security concerns when purchasing in an online environment. Design/methodology/approach – The survey was delivered to 156 households in a small town in the Midwest and collected upon completion. Findings – The perception of risk is increased when two negatively loaded pieces of information are processed simultaneously (i.e. product intangibility and privacy concern). Furthermore, system security was identified as the most relevant concern in e‐commerce. Research limitations/implications – The representativeness of the sample is limited. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. Originality/value – The results provide interesting insights about the generalizability of previous findings based on student samples, and show the importance of privacy concerns, system security concerns, general security concerns for those purchasing in online environments.