A Competent Consumer Is Diffident. Consumers’ Metacognition Alleviates Their Self-Underestimation Of Self-Efficacy In Online Shopping

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With the development of digital technology, electronic commerce has become an important part of the current economy and brings consumers significant benefits. However, many consumers have lower levels of willingness to shop online. Because consumers’ self-efficacy has a positive effect on their willingness to shop online, it is important to investigate the origins of self-efficacy. This study proposed that consumer competency that indicated by knowledge, attitude, and skill is a significant predictor of self-efficacy and that the relationship between them is moderated by consumer metacognition. Two studies with samples of 379 college students and 494 individuals from the general population revealed that (1) self-efficacy positively predicted consumers’ online consumption willingness; (2) consumers’ knowledge/skill about online shopping negatively correlated with their self-efficacy, i.e. a competent consumer is diffident; (3) consumers’ knowledge/skill negatively predicted their self-efficacy and consumption willingness; and (4) metacognition moderated the relationships between their knowledge/skill and self-efficacy. This study revealed an excessive difference among consumers in online shopping and extended the application scope of theories of metacognition, which may provide a new research direction for future studies. Based on these findings, improving consumers’ competency and metacognition may result in a win‒win situation between consumers and online retailers by improving the sustainability of the relationship between them.