The moderating role of consumer characteristics in the relationship between website quality and perceived usefulness

Purpose – Online group buying (OGB) websites have rapidly increased in number in recent years and have become an interesting model for online transactions. Previous studies have shown that consumers’ individual characteristics are critical in group buying participation and the perceived usefulness (PU) of an information system, whereas the role of consumer characteristics on the OGB website-quality-PU relationship remains unclear. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether consumer characteristics (i.e. gender and utilitarian orientation) moderate the OGB website-quality-PU relationship. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 658 OGB website consumers participated in this study. Data were analysed by employing hierarchical moderated regression method. Findings – The primary findings are as follows. First, the effect of system quality on consumer PU of the OGB website was stronger for male consumers than for female consumers. Second, the effect of information quality on PU was stronger for high-utility-orientated consumers than for low-utility-orientated consumers. Originality/value – Because of the increasing importance of e-commerce and the growing number of shoppers purchasing from OGB websites, the finding provides enhanced understanding of OGB consumers for segmentation strategies.